Chapter 55

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Svin'yalosk (modern day Yakaterinburg) March 1974

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Pulling his car to a stop, Kozlov stepped out, closing the heavy door with a clunk and walking up the steps. Spring was here and the snow was melting, the chill dampness pressing into the underside of his paws as he walked up the great stone steps. Past the last mounds of piled up snow, greying in the warming sun. Past the bare trees, small green buds starting to form. Past the other mammals who saw him and turned away, avoided eye contact, knew that this young faced bear they looked at was no fellow student.

He was a mammal beyond them.

An apex predator.

His fur stood on end, not from fear, but the slight mouth watering thrill of it. As he walked through the grand decorated halls of the polytechnic his brother had once studied at. Even older than Rustim had been, yet so much lower still.

A laughing pair of snow leopards, likely students from the mountains far to the south east were to the side and Kozlov slowed, letting his eyes rest on them.

It took a few seconds before the predators, talking in their own language, paused, noticing that something was wrong with the now silent crowd.

Kozlov's smile only grew as they looked around before pausing, eyes lingering on him.

"So, uh, about that assignment," one of them began, speaking the mother tongue.

"I think I'm most of the way through it," the other began, pausing as Kozlov walked up to them.

A second of glorious silence before the first snapped out of their seeming paralysis. "Good morning, Comrade," he said. "I…" An awkward scratch behind his ear, the bear looking down to see his tail still, between his legs. "My brother and I are here on an outreach programme from Tahrkent. I suppose around here you don't see many mammals like us."

"Nyet," Kozlov smirked, leaning forward. "Though you two are not the first Snebs I've ever seen."

"-So, uh, is Sneb Russian for Snep?"

"Da panda, but make even more sense."

Kozlov carried on looking down at the pair. "I'm sure down there you get plenty of mammals like me."

A pair of strained smiles. "I…" The brother began. "A few polar bears, I have seen your species before."

Kozlov let out a long chuckle, his mirth growing as the awkward laughing spread to the two students, their eyes glancing at each other and then back to him. "Comrade," the ursid finally said, a glorious smile on his face as he brought out his paws and dropped them down hard on their shoulders. They shuddered so much it almost felt like they were going to leap up into the air, and the way their fur sprung up even further was just… "Haha, you know that is not what I mean," he said, his smile wide. He gave them a shake before walking off. "Enjoy your day."

And with that he walked off with not just purpose in his steps, but an excited spring as he left them behind and…

He halted, turning back to them as they started holding each other. A paw in his mouth and he gave a shrill whistle. This time they did leap up, almost like a pair of fainting goats launched up by a spring. Of course, being cats, they landed on their feet and turned back to face him. "Hey comrades!" the bear laughed. "There is one thing I need to ask you."

"-DA!"

"-Dddd-Da…"

He walked up to them and shrugged. "When I was little cub, the best pikeperch came from a sea in your SSR." He paused a little. "You two Snebs being cats, I am sure you know about how to get best fish. Where is it now?"

"G-gone," one of them said.

Kozlov snorted. Of course it was gone. He hadn't seen it in the shops for years. "Well, where has it gone?"

"Evaporated," the other said.

The bear paused, blinking. "...How can fish evaporate!?"

"Not the fish, the sea," the first one explained.

Kozlov paused for a second before shrugging. "If sea is not gone, we may meet again. Might not be so very funny as this meeting." And with that he smiled, waving them on their way.

Off they went, briskly getting around a corner as Kozlov carried on, ruler of all his eyes could lay their eyes on. Keeper of the order, vanguard of the revolution, the conscious of all these mammals with big, new, potentially counter revolutionary ideas in their heads.

And the one with the capacity to get what he wanted.

He'd been here to ask about any signs of subversive literature or ideas stemming up from the less technical classes. Indeed, a quick check in and nod from the teachers and lecturers had him a list of a few… potential mammals of interest.

Alas, one could never truly trust these mammals. What better place for a subversive element to aim for than one where they could shape and guide the direction of so many impressionable, trusting minds. Indeed, soon he'd be starting a course very like theirs, albeit in a completely different university. A few tours of duty, posing as a first year student during each, getting the sniff on anything going on.

It didn't escape his notice that all of the ones his superior had briefed him on included a vulpine as a teacher. Such was the way of things, and he hadn't gotten to where he was by sticking up for the Truth-Truth.

Not that he didn't have a burning interest for it as, moving back out, he made a large detour. Down towards the medical wing of the university, down towards the area that taught about mammalian biology and conducted autopsies…

The secretary and then her superior questioned nothing as he requested a look at their records. And soon, scanning through, he found it.

His breath was hitched as he saw his brother's name on the death certificate, and soon those of some of the others. The fake reasons they'd died, along with the list of descriptions on their bodies. How they'd been broken, how they'd been ripped. More records, more details… Pictures.

Names.

Kozlov quickly began writing them down, making sure he knew who to press when he had the time. He put one file away before bringing out another, opening it up. Zinadia's. That laughing reindeer. He snorted a little before a pall came over his mood. He still remembered her cackles, her hysterics, ringing in her ears.

Seemingly so little time before as he opened it out and…

He paused, freezing as a little slip of paper dropped out. Scribbled writing, maybe not quite the work of a rodent but something not that bigger. Placing it down, he pulled out a small fold-out magnifier for such an occasion, lowering it down and starting to read. His breath began to race as he realised exactly what it was.

'All references to thermal injuries are to be removed. All references to extreme force non-compliant with avalanche injuries to be removed. Stated cause of death for those found far away to be stated as hypothermia.' Kozlov's grin began to grow as he read it. He knew it, he knew it! And one mammal told to write down the truth-truth a long time ago had chosen to leave in a breadcrumb trail to the truth.

If he ever reported anyone from this place, he'd have to be careful to not get that troublesome brilliant little mammal.

But thermal injuries? His paw began to tremble as he looked up, rubbing his eyes.

Was there a weapons test on at the time?

Had they stumbled into something terrible?

Had this all been a cover up?

He hissed a little, looking down. What made him especially angry was that these would have been some major injuries. If not, why not just write the odd burn off as an accident with the tent's small fire stove? It leaking toxic smoke into the tent or something, that would be an explanation for the tearing of the tent and running out. Maybe they found some rare kind of toxic wood by mistake and put it on, not realising they'd poisoned themselves?

No… He hissed, gripping the table. To not wrap it up with something so convenient, it would be major injuries that couldn't be explained. Not like that.

He looked down further, freezing as he saw a final instruction. 'Destroy all witness statements.'

Kozlov pocketed the small piece of paper and then put the files back, making his way out of the university, back to the office, back to his superior where he handed his reports in. They talked a little about what he saw, about what his next assignment would be, about the older polar bear's pregnant wife and how, if it were a boy, he wanted to call him Vasily. Then a long, long round of jokes at the expense of foxes, about how they were thieving, conniving… A lot of things, to say the least.

And after that, Kozlov made his way out of the office but not before looking into some of the files they'd gathered on the University. Its staff and student body. Present and former.

And with that he went home, didn't sleep, didn't eat. He paced about, he thought, he planned.

The next day was another round of normal work, posing as a new assignee apprentice to a light goods factory that had been growing heavily behind on its order quota. Get in, stay around for a few weeks, monitor what was going on. Find, identify and report any suspicious mammals.

Fill the quota like a good citizen.

He hoped that the only foxes there were absolute jerks.

There were no foxes there, and a lot of missing equipment, fortunately.

And so his tenure continued, his waiting continued until, on a spare day, leaving early, he made his way by tram to an older neighborhood. Walking along until he saw it, he leant down onto his knees, focussed on a small door and set of windows built, alongside a large stack of such, into the access stairs to a taller apartment block.

A knock on the door and, after a brief wait, an old mammal walked out. A False Zokor, a small burrowing rodent of the mole rat family. Tiny, hunched back and with little beady eyes, large glasses resting on them. He looked up and froze as he saw the massive polar bear towering above him.

"Mikhael Royenory?" Kozlov asked, smiling. "I would ask to come in, but…"

"I…" he began, trembling a little.

"A long time ago you did an autopsy on a certain group of mammals," he said. "A group of hikers found dead on a mountain pass, far north. Da?"

He paused for a second before nodding. "Da! Terrible accident, such a…"

"One of our former mammals gave you a set of instructions," Kozlov carried on, paw swinging down behind the mammal to stop him retreating back in. "What not to include in the report."

"I…" He began twiddling his fingers. "I… I can neither confirm nor deny…"

"That mammal was in with a major coverup," Kozlov carried on. "Of his own, heinous, crimes. You see, not long before their hike, those mammals had taken part in an exploration of an abandoned mineshaft. One used in the revolution as a site of execution for various lion nobility." He smiled a little, giving the tiny mammal a wink. "They went treasure hunting and found, what we believe, were some remarkable finds. Left over from the centuries of past plunder from the people." And then he let out a long sigh.

"Those on the hike wished to confirm it and then present it to a museum. Alas, the mammal who came to instruct you on what to do also knew about that find. And he wished to take all the wealth for himself." A long sneer. "And so, I believe, he arranged the 'accident' as it were, he had connections with high places. And then, instructed you and the other investigators to cover it up. The injuries, the witness statements." He sighed. "We are now on the hunt to find out what really happened. Are you willing to help us in this fight to reclaim the people's stolen wealth?"

A slight glance behind him and at the paw blocking the door and the zokor nodded. "I… Suppose I am, yes."

"Good," Kozlov said, smiling. "Then let us go somewhere nice and discuss this, like grown up mammals."

Not long after, sitting in a nearby cafeteria, Kozlov mixed and moved around the food on his plate with his fork. There were… Some things he was fine with eating. Some things he wasn't. Thankfully there was at least some overlap with what the small rodent liked and, after nibbling away at some of the gnarly beans for a minute, the little mammal spoke.

"In terms of injuries," he said, working his paws. "Externally there was very little. But internally…" He shuddered a little. "The amount of damage done, and the various patterns and so forth…" His fur was on end as he rubbed his face. "I dread to think what it'd be like as they slowly realised they were dead mammals walking. After surviving that terror and having the ecstasy that they were alive, to be hit with the creeping dread that they were doomed. Cooking from the inside…"

"Cooking?" Kozlov asked, pausing to think. "Radiation?"

The small mammal shook his head. "No, electricity."

"Like lightning strike?" Kozlov asked, freezing up a little. If that was what killed them, then couldn't it just be given like that?

"Yes," he said, "but…." And then he shook it. "I've heard of cases of mammals who have touched high voltage wires. At first, it seems they have survived. But the damage inside, the dying cells… Though none are vital, the volume of dead matter inside them being shed soon builds up to lethal levels. They feel fine, then realise they are sinking, then a few hours later…" He shook his head.

"So… Not lightning?"

"I'd…" He strained his voice, rubbing the area between his eyes. "Almost, but not quite. It had its own unique pattern of damage that I have never seen before, I…"

Kozlov nodded, slowly piecing things together. What if the motherland's scientists were finding ways of harnessing the power of storms, of lightning, of electricity as some kind of weapon. And his brother and his friends had just had the misfortune of getting caught in this test. Wrong place, wrong time.

"-Same with the entry wounds, wherever whatever hit them hit them. One on some, a few on each, I…"

"Do you have any idea what it was?"

"No," he said. "I… There was a piece of paper on one, they'd tried writing something down. But it was half destroyed by water after, and the mammals who talked to me destroyed the rest before I could have any other look."

"And… Witnesses? Other witnesses."

There was a scoff. "Superstitions," he said. "Uncivilized tribes, squirrels and burrowers and other mammals. Just spouting their folklore."

"Maybe they saw the test and…"

"Ha!" There came a scoff. "If what they say came down, what they heard, was real… Then why have we not seen anything like it at any airshow. Huh?"

"What did they hear? Rumbling, jet engine…"

There was a scoff. "Wings."

Kozlov blinked. "Wings?"

"Like bat or bird wings," he said. "They said a demon came down that night to speak words to them, there were flashes on the mountain, sentencing them to death. After that, they just stay well away." He swept a paw and then turned back to his meal.

Kozlov looked down, silent. "What words?"

"Why would you?" came a half-mouth-stuffed garble of a response. "Just made up…"

"And if it was about what we were looking for?" Kozlov asked, trying to push him as much as he could without making a scene.

The chewing rodent began slowing down, small paws beginning to tremble.

"Go on," Kozlov said.

"I…" He shook his head. "It was a long time ago, so the details may not all be correct. But…"

"-But?"

"They say a terrible voice called over the valleys. To those brave pioneers… its words, in the realm of metallurgy and exploration. -It said that and chuckled darkly, they all say that. And that at that time it was firing. It said that their curiosity was only good for one thing, but it would give them a speck of respect before they died for crossing it." He breathed out. "It said 'Your Lemmingium was always mine, and shall always be. I hope you're satisfied with your final answer." And with that the small rodent shrugged. "And that was it, a few witnesses from different areas reported hearing the same thing, but it was likely spreading the same rumour or…" He froze, looking up. "Are… Are you okay?"

The polar bear just stood there silently. "Da," he finally said. "Da." And with that, silently, he took the small mammal home, then went home himself. Paws on his head, breathing in and out. In and out.

Remembering.

A clear memory amidst the sea of the lost.

A childish flash of terrible imagination, maybe not so childish or imagined.

A speculative name that only they knew, that…

His eyes widened and, with a slam of the door, he was off again.

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"In that moment, as any reasonable mammal might logically arrive at, I had come to the one logical conclusion to the reemergence of that word, Lemmingium, that only a select few ever knew."

A loud knocking rang from the door, Yuri Dvugorbyy standing up and walking over, the two-humped camel scratching his head. Peaking through the eyehole, he smiled, unlocking the door and throwing his arms out wide. "PYOT…"

"YOU BASTARD!" His eyes widened as the massive polar bear slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.

"Wha…" A heavy punch to the face knocked him clean out, Kozlov standing up, locking the door behind him, and then moving the camel to the wall. Bits of electrical cords bound his long gangly limbs to heating pipes while his legs were tied up underneath him.

Rubbing his knuckles a little, Kozlov walked over to his sink and grabbed a glass of cold water, throwing it over the camel's face.

He jolted, coughing slightly before coming too, eyes slowly widening in realisation. "P-Pyo…"

A heavy paw clamped his mouth shut, the bear waving a warning finger in front of him. "Shhhhh," he said, smiling. "Do you ever wonder what really happened to all your friends? To my big brother?"

The camel gave an odd look, one eyebrow raised and one lowered, before nodding hard.

"So did I!" Kozlov beamed. "And so, for the last few years, I have worked to become… How do you say it… Little star of the security services. -Oh yes, I see that look, I'm with them. And, with them, comes interesting perks. When you ask mammals, mammals don't answer back." He sighed, looking sadly at the camel. "And, after hurting a lot of innocent mammals to get into my position, I use it. I look into my brother's death, I look into those obviously false reasons for death. I find message, in Zinadia's folder. Remember her? She liked to laugh, no?"

Yuri again tried to nod.

"Anyway," Kozlov shrugged. "It was snuck in by mortician, taken from whichever apparatchik told them to cover up the injuries. As well as the 'eyewitness reports'. Oh yes, mammals saw… Or rather heard what happened up there. Someone met them, someone in some new kind of flying machine with new kinds of weapons. Either way, several all say they heard the same thing." He chuckled. "And of course, even before that, mammals at morgue, they disregard this Baba Yaka tale as just that. Even, how it said, 'The Lemmingium belong to me.'" And with that Kozlov's smile faded, a cold dead stare remaining in its place.

Yuri looked up at the polar bear, eyes panicked, breathing in and out heavily through his gripped muzzle.

The bear let go, practically throwing him to the side. His arms pulled against the binding cords, the pipes on the wall jostled and creaked as they were pulled tight.

"I KNOW WHAT YOU DID!" Kozlov roared, breathing in and out fast.

"I…"

"Who was it you gave orders to! Who did you sell your friends, MY BROTHER, out too!"

"NOBODY!" he yelled back, shaking his head. "I… Lemmingium!? What on earth is…"

He was cut off by a sudden slap across the side of his face, several claw gashes cut in. "Pah! You know exactly what it is! Our 'new element', pulled from the bodies of old royal family, the…"

"Wait!" The bear paused as Yuri, sitting up again, blinked a few times, his face shifting around uncomfortably. "That… I think I remember that, I…"

"Don't play forgetful with me," Kozlov warned. "I was three and I remember like it was yesterday."

There was a long pause. "It broke that drill," the camel said slowly, almost a whisper. He turned to the bear. "I remember now. Most of the guys thought it was some new alloy, but the idea it was some new element… And Lemmingium." He choked a half laugh half sob. "Oh Nikolai…" And then he paused, looking up at the bear. "But what's this got to do with their deaths!?"

"Several covered up eye witnesses all report hearing whatever killed them taunting them, using that name," he growled. "Only eleven mammals ever knew that name. Nine are dead. Last two, right here. And I certainly never told anyone it, especially not mammals high enough to take plane out and…"

The camel's eyes widened. "Oh Pyotr…" he whispered. "You think I…"

"WELL WHAT ELSE AM I MEANT TO THINK!" He roared it out so loud he briefly hoped he'd sandblast the damn traitors face off. Spare his fists the effort. Yuri still flinched back but, as it ended, looked at the bear… Sadly…

"Pyotr," he sniffed. "I forgive you."

"W-WHAT!?"

"When you say it like that, if true…" He shrugged. "I can't blame you for thinking I sold them out. I forgive you." And then he looked up, eyes focussing with a renewed vigour. "But I did not sell out my friends. I would have died for them."

"Still on the table."

A flash of fear and the camel had his eyes closed. "Pyotr, I… Please, I… -If I did this to sell them out, to take the glory… Where is it?" He looked back up at the white bear. "If I sold them out to steal that find for myself, where is the new element?"

"Maybe it is just new osmium or iridium alloy. Bit of gold. Remarkable properties."

"I… I don't remember any of that, I…" the camel looked up. "Do you have a photographic memory or something?"

Kozlov shrugged. "Just for that moment I guess."

"Okay," he said, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "But even if it was just an alloy, it was still a remarkable find. It would be in some kind of scientific paper or something, but no. Nothing. I haven't even thought of that thing for decades. Pyotr, I didn't even go looking for it when I got back, that would have been them." He let out a pained laugh. "It's probably still where we left it. Do you remember that?"

Kozlov hung there silent. "Maybe you got swindled too? Whoever you sold them out to, took it. Leaving you with nothing."

"No," Yuri said. "No, I knew no-one who could arrange anything like that. I mean, why would I lie! If someone like that was responsible, I'd tell you right away so you could try and get them…"

"Or maybe you are both in on it and you plan to warn him."

"I…" Yuri began, voice strained before looking away, eyes closed. "Please. Please friend. For your sake, for your brother's sake…" Kozlov let out a growl, not that it stopped the camel. "In better circumstances, I would be happy that you have this lead. But…" He coughed a little. "I know why you blame me, but you have to believe me! It was not me!"

"Then who!" Kozlov growled. "How would they know that name?"

"I don't know!" He yelled back, trying to gesture about. "Microphones in the thing. Rats in the walls. Microphones in the walls. Maybe it was one of the others who sold them out, but they were killed in the attack. Or their deaths faked. I don't know, but it's at least more like…" He was broken off by a round of coughing, pink tinged sputum coming from his mouth.

Kozlov looked on impassively.

"More likely than me ever betraying them…"

The bear looked on, silent, studying the mammal lying in front of him. "Tchhh…" he said, sneering. "Knew little trinket was bad news."

"-So you did…"

His mouth piquing, the ursid looked on as Yuri's eyes widened with remembrance.

"So you did Pyotr, I…" There was a slight laugh. "We even brought out a geiger counter to see whether it was radioactive or not. And… -I can't remember if we measured the currents off of it or not…" He shook his head. "Igor or your brother would be the ones to keep the notes and…" He trailed off, looking up at Kozlov. "What… exactly, attacked them? Was it one of ours?"

"What else would it be?"

"It was what, do they know? Helicopter…"

"I guess," the bear said, "they just said they heard flapping and…" He trailed off as he saw the growing look of fear on the camel's face. "What?"

Closing his eyes, breathing in and out, he looked down. "I… Have you ever had the sense you were being followed? Being hunted? That some terrible predator was out there, ready to take you. Silently. Instantly. That you were terribly small…"

Kozlov shook his head.

"On the way back," he said, looking down. "On the way back, I…" His voice began to crack.

"What was it?"

"I don't know!" he stressed, before looking down, sniffing. Crying. "I don't know but… But please, be safe. Be very careful. I… Even where you are, I think we're messing with something… I don't know…" He closed his eyes. "I don't know."

Kozlov stood there, silent, before walking over and untying the camel from his binds. He helped him up, he guided him down, he slipped him a few bills and said that he'd had an accident falling down the stairs. He'd been meeting an old friend and had tripped, the friend had tried to catch him and things hadn't gone quite according to plan. He said he was sorry. He said that were he involved, he would have wished he'd confessed here and now.

And with that, back to the university. Under the pretence of a quick follow up. Back to the backrooms. Back to the workshops.

He stepped in as a class left, explaining to the concerned teacher he was just here to look around somewhere he remembered long ago. For a minute or two he just appreciated it, let his claws tap along the tables, chairs, the things that had changed, the things that hadn't.

Before going to a store cupboard he remembered and opening it up, looking through. Slowly, carefully, each item.

Until he found a familiar locked box.

Same patterns on the wood.

Still there after all this time.

And with that, he used the heavy tools to cut through the lock and open it up, paws gripping harder and teeth bared as he reached in and brought out the cold metal calling card that was there instead of the 'Lemmingium'. Heavy, dull, whatever it was he didn't recognise it. Like a serrated arrowhead with a large notch cut into the top centre, or a jagged 'A' where the two lines never met at the top.

All he could tell for sure was that in the centre, amidst the folds that might have depicted a bending, scowling head… Were two burning cold orange metal fragments.

Eyes…

And even though he knew it was just superstition, that it wasn't even like what he remembered feeling when he'd held what this thing replaced so long ago, he turned it over so it could not see him.

And with that he carried on his search. He went to the older members of staff, gave them the same explanation he'd given the zokor about searching for someone who'd stolen the old treasure. Now grimly realising he'd been running so ahead of himself back then.

They had nothing to say…

Other than that they remembered something odd occurring around that time. A few odd mammals, not from this region, seen in town. A few odd hairs being found or sniffed out…

Lying in the halls of the polytechnic.

Kozlov leant in and asked further.

To which they shrugged. Snow leopard fur. Different texture, colour, scent, from anything they usually got around here. One of the members of the security staff mentioned something about finding some, the same night he found a window rattling open. But nothing seemed to be stolen, and whatever that big cat and his small posse had been doing in town, it had seemed sanctioned and they left without any fuss.

And so the polar bear asked more about them, was there anything distinct. After all, this was a long time ago, and while mammals might remember the first time they saw an exotic species, he wouldn't bank on it. The time on his first return visit wasn't the first time he'd seen snow leopards either.

And to that most of them shrugged or shook their heads except…

"I remember seeing a strange fox around that time."

Kozlov had to hold himself back, avoiding rolling his eyes or smiling in glee at the opportune chance. "What's so strange about him?"

"He had a square face."

Kozlov's face dropped and he blinked. "WHAT!?"

Paws up, the mammal backed off. "I'm not joking, he literally had a square face!"

From that, the bear went to the library, scrolling through a species almanack. His sceptical gaze slowly morphed into bewilderment and excitement as he found the mysterious fox.

"A Tibetan Sand Fox," Kozlov explained, far in the future. "I wouldn't call their face square, but with their… mane, flat chin and ears." He shrugged. "Close enough. But, most Tibetan foxes live in Tibet. But there were few who settled to north and west. Our territory. Our land. Our citizens. Just a few thousand, at most, staying in their valley, or on their mountain. Enough that, even with some going on travels, it is unlikely that any mammal will see them. And when they do, for first time, they are likely to remember it."

And with that, Kozlov began to make his way to the final stop of the day. -Not before finding himself with a golden opportunity that he pounced on, eagerly. "Hello again!"

There was a jolt as the two snow leopards leapt up, thick fur abuzz, before landing back down and looking on, shocked, as Kozlov smiled, slipping his way between them and then holding them together. "So, Comrades," he said, smiling. "In Tahrkent, is it very different from here?"

"I…-I-I… Hotter!" One of them blurted out. "Mild in the winter, hot in the summer." His claws nervously pointed at each other. "Well, I do prefer it here. Nice and cool."

"-We're not hot weather mammals!" His brother cut in, smiling.

Kozlov looked between them, smiling. "And what about the mammals? Lots of Snebs like you?"

"No!"

"No!"

…

"-I mean," one of them began saying. "You see a few of us around, but not like lots-lots of us."

"Like polar bears in this city!" the other filled in, smiling as he gave Kozlov a return pat on the back.

The bear, smiling, kept his gaze fixed on him as he slowly brought his paw around, picked the arm up and then placed it back down, slowly. Settling it onto the leopard's lap, he brought up his white paw, past the face of the big cat, whiskers erect and mouth quivering slightly open, and patted him on the head. Pat. Pat. Pat.

And then Kozlov turned and rested his paws on his knees. "So, lots of camels there?"

"-Yes."

"Argali?"

"Yes."

"Tigers?"

"Yes, but Caspian, not Siberian."

"Lots of small little prey and all," Kozlov carried on before chuckling. "Running scared whenever a fox walks past."

"I… I mean such silly species animosities are…" One of the snow leopards began before his brother cut him off.

"Yes, yes, of course," he said, nodding his head.

Kozlov groaned, shaking his head. "Is it just the reds?"

"No, they are equal opportunity bigots," the snow leopard said. "Red fox, corsac, Blandford, Ruppell's. Any tulkisi and they just go run off."

"Da," the bear sighed "Corsac fox, square faced fox…"

"-Square faced?" one of them asked.

The other shook his head before pausing. "Hang on, you mean Tibetan?"

"I…" Kozlov paused, before laughing. "They're REAL! You've met them…"

"-Not personally no, but I know a mammal who knew a mammal. I think it's just a few in their valley or something."

"Ah," Kozlov nodded. "Are the sheep still scared of wolves down there?"

The pair looked at each other, at him, before shrugging.

The bear waved it off. "No worries," he said. "It's just… I want to learn more about the different parts of our glorious nation. I mean, I found this little thing on my travels, heard it was from your part of the world…"

He placed the metal calling card down, slowly watching as their fur began to stand on end. The bear watched it and raised an eyebrow. "You know?"

"-N-no," one of them said, ears pulling back. "It's just…" He stalled for words before shaking his head, throwing his arms out towards it. "Creepy."

"Da," Kozlov agreed. "Some kind of ward or…"

"Tiggur…" Kozlov and the snow leopard on one side turned to look at the other one who, after a second or two, carried on. "The great emperor Tiggur… Descended from one of the great predator lieutenants of Genghis Khan himself, when the Moringols marched down and burned the Islambic emperors. Who's descendents would make an empire in Afghanistan, before conquering and ruling India as the Mughal empire until the British came to change the slavemasters. -Tiggur's tomb, I've been to it, and I saw something like that…" He pointed at it. "Drawn onto one of the walls."

Kozlov nodded, his eyes widening. "Very interesting," he smiled. "So, this was a token, a standard on his arms…"

"It is said, -or I have heard," the snow leopard carried on. "That long ago, the Emperor Tiggur found and killed a thief. And in the night, a great demon came to him, having been a victim of the great thief himself." There was a shrug. "And that demon, despite his evil, could only pay respect to the mammal who had bested such a wily foe. And in return gave him the guidance to be the greatest warlord of the age. And to lead on a grand dynasty, that would last the centuries."

And to that the polar bear nodded, smiling, looking down and stroking the item before placing it back in his pocket. "Fascinating… History!"

"Yeah," the snow leopard said, "it's…"

"One whole bloody oppression of the working class," Kozlov laughed, standing up. "Carry on assigning everything to historical materialism, I will be on my way."

And with that, the bear began to make his way off only to freeze as the other snow leopard called up. "I haven't been to Tiggur's tomb or anything," he said. "But I know one famous legend about it."

There was a pause, Kozlov looking on curiously.

"His tomb had an inscription on it. A warning on it."

"Against thieves, foxes, thieving foxes?" the polar bear smirked.

"Against anyone who would disturb it," he said, looking down. "That a terrible enemy would descend upon he who did so. And on Stagen's orders, that warning was disregarded and the emperor was exhumed… The Great Patriotic War began two days later."

Kozlov held himself there for a second before moving on.

He visited the train station.

Asked the older workers if they remember a few odd mammals from far to the south, including a square faced fox, a long, long time ago.

Most didn't.

A few did.

They remembered him and the group arriving.

Leaving on a train back down to the south, or taking one to the north. Or arriving from the north and leaving to the south.

Enough questions and he got the picture, his teeth gritting.

However they found out about it, they took the 'Lemmingium' and headed north, then returning back down to where they'd come from.

Why?

To give whatever that thing was to whoever it was who had slaughtered his brother and his friends?

Kozlov didn't know.

He still didn't know how they would have learned. Maybe the mammals Yuri said he had explored that mineshaft with was a member of this mysterious group. They listened in, sent a small mammal in to spy on them further, then carried on to do their deeds.

But why…

Was it just a damned missing relic? And if that was true, why did some of them go north to drop it off, not south. Unless that had been a distraction or… He shook his head, casting the dumb thoughts aside.

He went to bed. He reported in the next day for his next mission.

He was soon working in a factory floor, an apprentice, monitoring what was going on. Finding some good workers, some poor workers, one mammal skimming off the industrial alcohol for private sale and diluting what was left leading to imperfections in the manufacturing processes. He reported it in with one major edit. That he'd also been selling secrets of the process to the head of Chinese spying ring, with at least one mammal, a strange square-faced fox, mentioning going through Tahrkent. And leaving a token of his appreciation for the job.

And, just like Kozlov had said, his superiors found that token in the thieving workers desk drawer. Whatever it was, they didn't know. But Kozlov vowed to his superior that this needed to be caught. Send him down south, let him wrap it all up, then see the looks on those square faces. After all, the shape of the face mattered for nothing against the species underneath.

And so, running high, the polar bear had seen his assignments change. Head far down south, into central Asia, to carry on the chase.