Chapter eighteen: Brake in Plan
Natasha went up the mountain with a woman. Her name was Misaki. A Japanese woman. She wore a red kimono with yellow birds on it. And a hairstyle with black hair tied in a bun. Natasha wore a green kimono with blue flowers. It was August 6, 1945. They were leaving Hiroshima.
"It's great. The fish market." said Natasha.
"I agree, Natasha. My husband will be very happy about the fish. It gives a change from all the rationed food." said Misaki.
"Yes. There is very little to eat. But if we win the war against the Americans, our Emperor will once again provide us with all the food we need."
"Exactly. If we win the war, everything will be better."
They walked on. Then they met someone they know. It was a japanese man, who wore a black suit.
"Kon'nichiwa doctor Katō." Natasha said.
Natasha and Misaki bowed to the Doctor. Doctor Katō bowed to the two.
"Kon'nichiwa. You were in Hiroshima I assume." Katō said.
"Yes. We were at the fish market." Misaki said.
"Its good to hear that. Your husbands are for sure very Happy with you."
"Yes they are." Misaki said.
Katō pointed in the sky over Hiroshima. They saw a light reflection of an silver aircraft in 10 Kilometers height.
"Must be an American Aircraft. Our cant fly that High." Katō said.
Natasha and Misaki turned around and looked in the direction Katō pointed.
"Yes. But its only one. I guess they are collecting intelligence Data." Natasha said.
"It looks like it turns back." Misaki said.
"Yes. Probably just for Informations."
And at that moment they saw a light brighter than the sun and felt extreme heat on their skin. Natasha, Misaki and Katō covered their eyes. After a few seconds the heat subsided. They opened their eyes. They looked in the direction Hiroshima was, but where the city once was there was now a huge, black, mushroom-shaped cloud slowly moving towards the sky. They were all shocked and didn't know what they were seeing. Natasha suddenly heard the loudest bang she had ever heard. And then she woke up screaming in her bed. She was breathing extremely fast. Mike ran into her room.
"Whats wrong Natasha? Its two a.m."
"I Had a Nightmare."
"It was a terrible Nightmare for sure. Do you wanna tell me about it?"
"I dreamed that I was a woman in Hiroshima. And then the bomb fell."
"Oh. Little Boy."
Mike hugged Natasha with his arms over her shoulders.
"Tasha, we will Expose the lakeatom scandal. And don't worry. Nothing will Happen."
Natasha nodded. Mike stroked her head and left. Natasha lay down again and tried to sleep. The rest of the night passed without nightmares. When Lori woke up in the morning she felt bad. She thought about the day before and how she had slapped her mother. And that's why she hadn't slept well.
"It wasn't a good night." said Lori.
She went into the bathroom and went to the toilet. Then she washed her hands and then her face. Then she went into the dining room. Leni, Luna, Lynn Junior, Lincoln, Lana and Lisa sat at the table. Lynn Senior was in the kitchen and Rita was standing by the table. And Lori saw that she was wearing a lot of skin colored makeup on her right cheek. A lot of makeup. Lori sat down. Rita put a plate of pancakes with bacon in front of her. Rita didn't look at Lori.
"Something Wrong Mom?"
Lori asked worried.
"No. Everything is fine."
Rita left the dining room. Lynn Senior stepped into the dining room.
"What's the problem?"
Lynn asked.
"Your Mom and Lori had a little argue yesterday." Lynn Senior said.
Lori went into the kitchen where Rita was doing the dishes.
"Mom, are you still mad at me?"
"Yes. And I cried all night."
"But I didn't hear you cry." said Lori confused.
"You hurt me so much I couldn't cry out loud because the fact that my own daughter hit me made me so sad that I was too exhausted to cry out loud."
"Oh. Mom, please I didn't want to hurt you. Please forgive me. That's the last thing I want."
"You did it. And you can't change that."
"Please mom. Please forgive me."
Rita remained silent. Then she left the kitchen. Lori slumped in the ground in sadness. The doorbell rang. Lynn Junior went and opened the door. Natasha stood in front of her.
"Hi Natasha. I guess you want Lori."
"Yes. I need her."
"Hey." Natasha said.
"Hi." Lori said sad.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"My Mom and I have a difficult time."
"Deal with it. We have more important stuff to do."
"What?"
"Remember? We Had It Yesterday."
"Yes I remember."
Lori went to her home with Natasha.
"We need to start a new analyzing process. Thus, we can collect more evidence."
"Okay. But you talked about the cores. What about them?"
"We don't think about the cores yet."
The two entered the house. Mike was in the living room.
"Hi. Good to see you." said Lori.
"Ah, good to see you Lori. You need to analyze the last production series."
"And after that?" Lori asked.
"What comes after that, is something we talk about later."
They went into the basement, and entered the lab. Like everytime, Lori turned on the Gammaspectroscope. Natasha took a Uranium fuel pellet with a tong, and laid it on the scope. Lori started. Then they looked at each other.
"Natasha, how are you feeling?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"Because... You know. You... killed someone."
"You know, since im back home, i sleep with a full loaded assault riffle 90 under my bed. If someone wants to try it, I will do it again!"
"You mean..."
"Shoot again. And that counts to you, if someone hurts you, i'll Go to that one, put the riffle lever in twenty, and pump him full of Lead."
"Well, thank you for protecting me."
Natasha hugged Lori. The two went upstairs to the bathroom and washed their hands. Natasha went into the kitchen and made a bowl of salty popcorn. Then they went into the living room where Mike was sitting with a notebook. He turned it towards the two and they saw a website. Lakeatom's website.
"Great Lake City fuel warehouse. A safe place to store the peaceful atom."
Mike shook his head.
"Peaceful Atom. Not what they produce. So girl we need to get a core from there."
"Wow." Lori said.
"They really want to show that they are trustfull." Natasha said.
Mike got up.
"Okay. We go." Mike said.
"Where?" Lori asked.
"We go steal a nuclear bomb. Get your guns."
"Okay dad."
Natasha ran into her room.
"And get the money. You need clothes."
"I need to get Home." Lori said.
"Okay, should I pick you up?"
"Yes please."
Lori ran home. She suddenly opened the front door. Lana, Lola, Lily and Rita looked at her in shock.
"Where have you been Lori Loud?" Rita asked.
"Natasha."
"Natasha what?"
"She needed me for something."
Lori ran into her room and opened the closet. She took her 31 carbine and all the ammo she had and put it all in her gym bag. Then she ran downstairs. She went to Rita and hugged her.
"I Love you Mom. You are the Person I looked at my entire life."
"Oh... Okay..."
Lori ran out of the house, and into the middle of the street, where a car was approaching her. Mike's VW Golf pulled up in the middle of the road, wheels squealing. Lori sat in the passenger seat, and looked back, and saw Natasha with a large amount of ammunition and two rifles. One was Natasha's assault rifle 90, and next to it was an old rifle. Lori recognized it from a history book. It was an American M1 Garand. Mike drove off.
"Well, we bought a hundred rounds for your gun, a hundred rounds for my grandfather's gun, and three hundred rounds for Natasha." said mike. Natasha was talking into her phone.
"Mr. Clarkson, so you can get fake passports? Great. Excuse me? Great Lake City... passport photos? Yes, we'll bring them. Do you have an address? Well, texting is great. Tell him we' ll pay cash."
"What is Natasha talking about?" asked Lori.
"She'll get you both passports. And we'll get you suits in great Lake City."
"Why?" "To make you two look like fancy scientists."
Mike pulled onto the freeway heading for Great Lake City. In Great Lake City, they drove through a littered street where many homeless people roamed.
"Thats a terrible place. Is this were we are supposed to be?" Lori asked.
"Yes we do. We get our documents here." Mike said.
"From here? From this dirty place?"
"What other choices do we have?" Natasha asked.
"No other."
They stopped in front of a terraced house that had a neglected garden. They got out and walked toward the house. Mike rang the bell. An old man opened the door. He was definitely over ninety.
"Hello. Can I help you?" The old man asked.
"I don't know. We are supposed to get documents here." Natasha said.
"Clarkson?"
"Yes." Lori said.
"Come in."
They entered. The man closed the door. The house was very clean and tidy inside. Like an oasis in the desert.
"Cookies?"
"No thanks." Mike said.
"Business?"
"Yes." Natasha said.
"NRC. Clarkson told me. What are you up to do?"
"We need to find the truth." Mike said.
"I see. Wait here, I prepare my camera."
He went into a room. Then he shouted something.
"The first can come."
Lori stepped into the room and saw the old man with a camera standing in front of a white wall.
"Now I need you at this wall."
Lori walked and stood at the wall.
"Perfect. Now stay Like this."
He pointed the camera at Lori, and made a photo. He looked at the result.
"Oh, you are perfect for photos."
"Thanks." Lori said.
"You know. I do this since seventy years. You are a pretty good photo motive."
"Yes. But I also have a lot of experience with this."
"Oh. In what kind."
Lori took her cell phone, and showed it to the old man. Hey chuckled.
"Its for sure something great, but I prefer the camera."
"For sure are your photos better."
"Everyone makes beautiful photos. You have to like those."
"I guess that's true."
"Call your friend. I need a photo of her."
Lori left the room, and went back to Mike and Natasha. They looked at a fish tank with a little pufferfish swimming around.
"He looks cute." Natasha said.
"Natasha. It's your turn." Lori said.
Natasha went to the room. Lori walked to Mike.
"What's coming next? The Warehouse?"
"No. You need new clothes." Mike said.
Natasha walked to the wall and leaned at it. The man looked at Natasha.
"You are a big girl. How old are you?"
"I'm seventeen years old."
"Beautiful age. You would be the kind of girl every wanted."
He laughed quiet.
"Really? With my weight?"
"Oh you know, my wife looked a bit like you. Not very skinny. But thats okay."
He pointed the camera at Natasha.
"Try to look neutral."
He took a picture of Natascha.
"Now I need some time. Just go in my living room and watch TV or something."
Natasha walked out of the room. Then she heard the door close. Lori and Mike looked at the puffer fish in the tank.
"He said we should wait."
"Okay, how long?" Mike asked.
"I do not know."
And that was the only thing Natasha could say. They waited three hours. Then the old man came out of the room with some documents and two passports.
"So you're Linda Silverlake."
He gave Lori a passport and a document.
"And you are Claire Cooper."
He gave Natasha the other passport with the other documents.
"Why does my name have to be Claire Cooper?" Natasha asked annoyed.
"That's a name that was free." The old man said.
Lori laid her right arm on Natasha's shoulder.
"Why so mad? Thats a beautiful name, Claire."
"When we do our thing, you will call me just Cooper!"
"Thank you mister." Mike said.
"No problem. Tell me next time earlier when you are coming. Then I can offer some cake."
Lori, Natasha and Mike nodded and said goodbye to the old man. They walked to the VW Golf and drove away. They reached a mall. There they got out and went inside.
"What do we need for clothes?" Lori asked.
"Black suits with black ties." Mike said.
"A suit for woman?"
"What is a suit for a woman?" Mike asked.
"We just get a suit, right?" Natasha asked.
"A normal suit. Like KGB agents wear in movies."
They entered a fashion store. They looked around.
"Hey, I found the suits." Natasha said.
Natasha gave Lori a suit.
"I think Bobby can't think properly anymore when He sees you in this." Natasha said.
"Oh come on."
Lori went into a dressing room and tried on the suit. He passed. Natasha also found a suit that fit her. With everything they needed, they went to the register, paid and went back to the car.
"What's next?" Lori asked.
"A Hotel. We need some rest." Mike said.
"That's a good idea." Natasha said.
"Yes. We deserved something nice. But can we go get something to eat first?" asked Lori.
"Yes we can."
They opened the trunk of the car and put their stuff in Lori's gym bag. Then they put their guns in the gym bag. Then they drove to an Italian restaurant. They shared a large pizza margherita. During dinner they whispered.
"Is that really a good idea? I mean, we know everything we're up to." Lori said.
"It's not the best idea. But it's necessary." said Mike.
"Do you want weapons of mass destruction to go into enemy hands?" asked Natasha.
"Yeah, right. We don't want that."
"And besides, we're going to win. I mean, we know people from the authorities." said Mike.
"Yes. That's a point for us."
After dinner they went to a hotel and checked into a room. They carried the sports ash with them. When they entered the room, they saw that it was a beautiful room. It had three beds. Lori lay down on a bed. And it was very soft.
"Such a soft bed. Leni would be jealous."
"Is it that soft?" Natasha asked.
"Yes. Try it out."
Natasha lay down on her bed.
"Oh my. That's really soft."
Mike sat down on his bed.
"Hmmm. Yes. Very soft."
"I'd like to go to sleep right away." said Lori.
"Would make sense." said Mike.
"So shall we go to bed?" asked Natasha.
"Yes."
"Yes. I mean, I'm already tired. And it's nine o'clock at night."
"Good. Then let's do it like this."
They all covered themselves up.
"Good night together." said Mike.
"Good night dad."
"Good night you two."
Lori turned off the light and they slept.