chapter8: Meet In The Middle
Sam
"So this is Kyiv," I announced quietly to our group.
Kiev Central was nice. Not just kind of nice or a little bit nice, either. It was a very, very
fancy station. Big, open atrium with marble, stone, and old looking carvings and stuff. The
main hall was lit by gigantic chandeliers. It made me think of a big fancy station from
maybe Britain or a European style one from the 1920s US or something. Definitely not
something I expected from a country that suffered from Communism for eighty years.
"Yeah," Isaac agreed.
"It's lovely," Jen added. "But..."
"We should get moving," I said. "Yeah, I know."
We left Kiev Central and walked the short distance to Vokzalna, the nearby metro station.
Though it lacked the grandeur and felt a little more Soviet, it was pretty nice, too. As much
as I liked the ultra-modern Canada Line, there was a certain charm the Kyiv Metro had that
SkyTrain did not. I guess the Soviets could do things right if they put their minds to it.
"This way," I said, motioning to the ticket booth, uselessly labelled KacN. There was a short
line, so we lined up behind them.
"Hey, we're in the metro, like Metro 2033," Isaac said jokingly.
"Wrong metro, dumbass," I replied in the same tone. More seriously, I asked, "How many
tickets do we need?"
"Just the three, I think," Isaac replied. "We can get more on the way back."
When we got to the front of the line, the lady at the counter said something to me in
Ukrainian which I didn't understand. I handed her a red ten hryvnia (one of the ones we'd
picked up in Warsaw) and held up three fingers. She smiled and handed back three plastic
tokens and a pair of two-hyrvnia bills.
"Khreshchatyk, right?" Isaac asked as we headed through the gates using our newly
acquired plastic tokens.
I nodded.
"What does that look like in Cyrillic?" He asked as we stepped onto the platform.
"It's the third station after this one," Jen replied, shrugging. "Code 120."
The train itself was much less impressive than the station. It wasn't classic or charming, it
was just old and outdated. We managed to find three seats and sat down.
It was then that I really started to think about the mission we were going to pull off. We
were meeting Weiss for real, if it was her. We still had to get a forged passport, and there
were a million things that could go wrong with that. If Weiss was even here.
I forced back the nervousness and recalled something that Commander Shepard said.
Dear Lord, please don't let me fuck up.
Katya
We stood below and to the side of the Independency Column, waiting. Far above us stood
the statue of Mikhail, archangel and patron saint of Kiev. It seemed like it should be
significant somehow, like some kind of symbolism of the moment, but I couldn't come up
with any connection. Kind of a shame, really.
I will admit, I was nervous. I had no idea if these people were honest or not. What if they
were thieves or rapists or murderers or worse, government agents? I wasn't expecting these
people to show up right away, if they did at all, and I got more nervous every minute we
waited. I felt better with Weiss standing beside me, but it helped less and less every minute.
"So, do you think they're actually going to show up?" Weiss asked, interrupting my
thoughts.
I checked my watch. "Is still five minute."
"It's always better to be early," Weiss replied haughtily.
I shrugged. "Perhaps they lost on Metro."
"Amateurs," Weiss scolded.
I scanned the crowds around the square. There were lots of residents going about their daily
business, a few officials and police, and several tourists as well. There were at least four
groups of two men and one woman I could see, and I couldn't tell their age easily from the
distance.
"Do you see people?"
"I see lots of people," Weiss replied rudely. "But not the ones we're looking for, no."
Then one of the tourists turned toward us, pointing his phone camera at us. This guy could
be the one we were waiting for, or he could just be taking a picture of the Column.
In retrospect, we probably should have exchanged pictures. Even Sam's profile picture was
just a character from Team Fortress 2.
The tourist that took the picture lowered his phone and started walking toward us. Another
man about his age, but fatter and unkempt, and a beautiful young woman followed him. I
didn't know if they were the right people, so even as they approached to within spitting
distance I kept silent.
"So... you must be Katya," the young man began, looking from me to my companion. "And
you must be Weiss."
"Then you are Sam," I greeted, more confidently than I felt. "Hello."
Sam
"Hello, Katya," I replied before turning to Weiss. "And you must be Weiss Schnee."
"We've been waiting a long time to meet you," Isaac said dreamily.
"No need to be dramatic," I chided, then pointed out my friends. "This is Isaac and Sam."
"Are you going to explain yourselves?" Weiss asked icily.
I brought up the video on my phone and handed it to Weiss. "I think it's better if someone
else does."
I watched her face as she watched the video. Confused, curious, slightly smiling, angry,
somewhat sad. Or something like that. I can read a person fairly well but it's hard to put into
words. Beside her, Katya remained stoic and just kind of took it in.
"Dolt," Weiss muttered as she handed my phone back. "That didn't explain anything."
"This really Ruby Rose?" Katya asked.
I nodded. "That's really her, as far as we can tell. She used her Semblance when we first met
her, and she demonstrated Crescent Rose too."
"It was really impressive," Isaac added helpfully.
Katya nodded slowly. "How I tell you be honest?"
"You can't," I admitted. "You can look at the evidence and decide for yourself. We can't
prove our case conclusively. But given what's happened, is this really that unreasonable?"
"No, suppose not," she replied slowly. "I believe you."
"Great!"
"Why not just bring Ruby here?" Weiss asked.
"We actually wanted to, but we'd have to figure out how to get her across the borders," I
replied sheepishly.
"Why not sneak on airplane?" Katya suggested. "Easy with Semblance."
"Airplane?" Weiss asked.
"It's like an airship," Isaac explained. He shrugged. "Sort of."
"As for why, uh, actually, we didn't think of it," I admitted. "Cliff would probably shoot the
plan full of holes, though."
"So what is plan now?" Katya asked cheerfully.
"Well, we're going to stay in Kyiv for a few days, then we're going to take the train to
Warsaw and fly back to Vancouver."
"Thanks for asking me how I feel about everything," Weiss said passive-aggressively.
"If Weiss is okay with it," I hurriedly added. "You do want to reunite with Ruby, don't you?"
She was silent.
"I know you're a bit disappointed that Weiss has to leave," I said apologetically to Katya.
"No, understand," Katya said. "Want to get with friend Ruby. Kyiv maybe not safe also."
"It's not that bad, is it?" I asked.
"No, but before we leave, soldier- I think Russian- try get Weiss. She kill."
I turned to Weiss. "Wait, you actually killed Russian soldiers?"
"Yes, I did," Weiss admitted. "They, uh, exploded."
"Holy shit."
"No, it makes sense, Earth humans are a lot weaker than Remnant humans," Isaac
explained.
"I have one question," Weiss interrupted. "If you couldn't get Ruby across the border, how
are you going to sneak me through?"
Weiss Schnee
"Well, this seems safe," I muttered quietly as a shifty looking man sat down across from us
on the park table. We were near the edge of the park, and the sun was setting behind us. The
bench was cold, rusty, and uncomfortable.
"It be fine," Katya reassured me. She turned to Sam and whispered not quietly enough,
"This insane."
"Remember, this is Earth," Sam added. "If it comes to it, you're not going to have trouble
with anyone here."
The man cleared his throat before saying something long and rough in Ukrainian or Russian.
I couldn't tell the difference.
"I... don't speak the language," I told him.
"Speak English, though?" he asked.
"She does," Sam answered for me. So that's what they called Valic here.
"That good," the man said. "English, universe. Get into any country English."
He paused. "Where are manners? I Paviel. I get document. Hello."
I'll be honest, his terrible Valic was not inspiring a lot of confidence. But according to Sam,
this guy was the best there was. According to his friend. According to a rumour mill.
"So, what is name?"
"That is German name, but you not sound German."
"I'm not." I still didn't know what a German was, other than something about a war and a
general distrust. I guess German-land was another kingdom. They sure had a lot on Earth.
He nodded, thinking. "You know... I not ask normally... čamu vam treba-"
"Why you, uh, need," Katya filled in. She asked Paviel, "Vy bielaruski?"
"Tak," Paviel replied proudly. "Tym ne mensh, my obydva kazhuchy po - ukrayinsʹky."
They kept exchanging phrases a few times before breaking out laughing. I asked, "What's so
funny?"
"We are both in place that speak Ukrainian, and we try speak Ukrainian," Katya explained.
"But I tell he Belarus, and he say, I from East or Russia. So... we both not speak language.
And now English."
"Yes, interest, but I was asking, not ask normally, but why need passport?" Paviel asked
again, barely comprehensibly. "You look, sound from Europe Union or Americas."
"It's a long story, and probably not one you want to hear," Sam told him. Probably not one
you'd believe, either.
"Then I not pry," Paviel replied. He explained, "Okay, it work this way. You give
information, I take away. Set up meet, two days later. I give passport. Half now, half later.
Understand?"
"Yes, I understand," I replied.
"Okay, first, most important question," Paviel began, tone businesslike but casual at the
same time... or maybe that was angry in this culture. "What country?"
"Canada if possible," Sam answered immediately. "If not, a country with visa-free access to
Canada. Maybe America or Britain."
"Canada..." Paviel considered it for a moment. "May be more expensive, but can do."
"Great!"
"You want stamps return?" Paviel asked.
Sam thought about it for a moment before answering, "Yes."
"Okay, how you go? May be important."
Sam replied to that question very quickly. "Train to Warsaw, fly out of Chopin. Stopover
in... probably Frankfurt."
"Yes, then name," Paviel continued, pulling a sheet of paper and a pen out of his bag. "Can
change if want."
"You should keep one of your names," Sam suggested. "Weiss is a German surname, so you
should probably use that as your last name if that's what you want."
"Yes," Paviel agreed.
"Okay... how about Anna Weiss?" I replied more confidently than I felt. Choosing a name
wasn't something to be done lightly. I might end up stuck with it for a long time.
"That good," Paviel replied. "I not speak language well, but good see name, and sound real."
"Thanks?" I half-replied.
"Birthdate... you are late teens, easier if... nineteen Canada, and look good enough, so you
born nineteen ninety-five or nineteen ninety-six, month... You have favorite month?"
I shrugged. They probably don't even use the same months here. "Some time in winter,
maybe."
"Okay. Day not matter?"
"No, it doesn't matter."
"Good. You are from large city?"
"Uh, sure." What counted as large? We didn't have consistent definitions among the
Kingdoms, so it probably didn't mean anything here.
"Okay, Toronto popular city. Okay?"
"Sure," I replied, glancing at Sam, who nodded.
"I think that is all." He handed us the form. "Check correct."
I quickly read it over. For a criminal outfit, the form was actually surprisingly complete and
neatly filled in. It all looked correct, so I handed it back. "Looks fine."
"Good. Now, must take picture."
That was fairly simple, but fairly ingenious. He handed Sam a piece of cardboard to hold
behind my head, then told me exactly how to pose. Look ahead, chin up but not too much,
done. A perfect passport photo.
"Okay, so how much is this going to cost?" Sam asked, handing the card back over.
Paviel put away his camera. "I have good feeling, so, say, fifteen hundred."
"US Dollars okay?"
"Yes, is good."
Probably more casually than he wanted to, Sam handed over eight green sheets of paper-
money, I suppose.
"Thank you," Paviel replied, standing up and handing him a business card. "Call number
tomorrow evening for instruction."
"See you later, friends!" he added loudly before waving and walking off into the
approaching night.
"Well... that was fucking scary."