Chapter 31: Shilka
Lori held Lorraine. Those little fingers and hands that Lorraine had were so cute. Lori was sitting on the couch. At that moment, Slobodan hung up a new portrait of a man with dark gray, medium-length hair.
"That looks nice." Lori said.
Slobodan looked at the portrait, and saluted.
"Чекам ваша наређења, председниче Караџићу."
(I am waiting for your orders, President Karadžić.)
"Who was he?" Lori asked.
"Radovan Karadžić. President of Republika Srpska."
"Your president?"
"Да. He was president of Republika Srpska. My country. And my other President was Slobodan Miloševič. President of Jugoslavija."
"I have at least internet again. I need to google so many things."
Lori got up and went with Lorraine to her room. There she had peace and quiet and could concentrate on the special phone. She put Lorraine on the bed and lay down next to her. Lori googled the name, "Radovan Karadžić." Google found him.
"I found a Wikipedia article about this guy." Lori said to Lorraine.
She opened the article, and started reading.
«Radovan Karadžić (Serbian Cyrillic: Радован Караџић, pronounced [râdoʋaːn kâradʒitɕ]; born 19 June 1945) is a Bosnian Serb politician who was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).[2] He was the president of Republika Srpska during the Bosnian War.»
Lori looked surprised at the screen.
"A criminal was Slobodan's President? And the other one?"
Lori looked up the name, "Slobodan Miloševič." She read the article.
«Slobodan Milošević (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Слободан Милошевић, pronounced [slobǒdan milǒːʃevitɕ] ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia from 1989 to 1997 and president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 until his overthrow in 2000.»
Lori thought that this guy seemed to be normal. But she will soon read other things.
«During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, Milošević was charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for war crimes in connection with the Bosnian War, the Croatian War of Independence, and the Kosovo War.»
"What? But… Slobodan was in Bosnia and Kosovo." Lori said.
Lori got up, took Lorraine, and went to Slobodan.
"Slobodan, why does it stand in the articles of Karadžić and Milošević that they were convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity?" Slobodan looked at the phone.
"I don't know. This is a lie. We protected all Muslims and Croats within Bosna and Jugoslavija."
"Why do you think that this is a lie?"
"Because nothing happened. Srebrenica never happened. Everything is a lie to make us Serbs look like criminals!" Slobodan yelled.
"Either they lie, or you are lying."
"There were no war crimes."
"I find the truth."
Lori went back to her room. She opened an app that looked like and message app. There was only one contact. Agent smith. Lori texted a message.
"Agent Smith, I need files about war crimes in the wars of Yugoslavia."
Lori looked at Lorraine.
"Something is strange about this." Lori said.
Agent Smith answered this second with a message.
"There are a ton of files. Which one do you want?"
Lori typed another message.
"The most important files."
Agent Smith answered.
"Srebrenica. Please wait."
Lori went with Lorraine to Marie and Natasha, and went with them to the hotel bar. Natasha wanted to hold Lorraine. Lori allowed that, and gave her to Natasha. They sat down at a table.
"So, you remember this Serb? Slobodan?" Lori asked. Marie and Natasha nodded.
"So, he was in the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo. I thought he just was in a war."
"Just a war? Bosnia was a war, we're friends killed friends, family killed family." Natasha said.
"Okay. Tell me more."
"So, I guess you already know that Yugoslavia was a multi ethnic nation in south east Europe. So, basically nationalism was the main reason this country broke apart. First Slovenia and Croatia. The war with Slovenia was ten days long. But the Serbian led government of Yugoslavia had no interest in Slovenia. There were no Serbs. But in Croatia, especially in the region of Kraijna, there were a lot of Serbs. So they annexed these parts. The war destroyed whole towns. And Ethnic cleansing began. Means, expulsion or murder of Croats. And in Bosnia, this was more extreme. The Muslim Bosniaks really suffered. And Srebrenica was basically the worst. The Serbs went in the town of Srebrenica, and took all men and boys, and killed them all."
Lori looked stunned at Natasha. She was silent for a moment and continued speaking.
"And, if you would be quiet for one minute for a single person that died in Srebrenica, it would be silent for almost six days."
Lori spoke with a weak voice.
"Is this real? Did Slobodan do this? Killing so many people?"
"I don't know. There are recordings of that. But, I don't want to look at that. And, maybe he wasn't at Srebrenica."
"Slobodan said that this never happened."
"To make him feel better I guess. Maybe he does this so he doesn't need to admit that he was fighting along men who killed innocent."
"I need to ask him a few questions. Could you take care of Lorraine?"
Lori stood up and went back to her apartment. Slobodan rummaged around in his bags. He found what he was looking for. A photo album. Lori entered the apartment.
"You are a liar! A criminal!" Lori yelled angry and sad.
"I am not a liar! I saw nothing of crimes! Just locking target with Shilka and defend air!" Slobodan yelled.
"Shilka? That's what it says on the book there!" Lori said, and pointed to the writing on the book.
On the book was the word "Шилка". Cyrillic.
"Шилка! Soviet produced anti aircraft tank!" Slobodan said, and opened the album. Slobodan showed a photo of a guy in the age of thirty looking out of an hatch from a massive tank that had four machine cannons in the turret, and something at the rear that looked like a giant pan.
"This is Shilka!"
"What do you want with that?"
"I just was an anti air guy! I was southern of Sarajevo and had to defend stuff!"
"And what about the crimes!"
"There were no crimes! We just shot at helicopters and planes!"
"Are you really telling the truth?!"
"I have photos!"
"I will find out!"
Lori left the apartment and went back to Natasha and Marie. She sat down with them.
"How did it go?" Marie asked.
"I didn't get smarter. He showed me photos. He was an anti air guy. He told me that many times."
"Do you trust him?" Natasha asked.
"I did. But I'm not sure if I can."
Natasha looked at Lorraine.
"Do you think you two are still safe with him?"
"I don't know. No. I don't think we are safe."
"What are you gonna do?"
"I don't know."
Lori thought for a moment.
"Can I live with you for a moment, Marie?" Marie nodded.
"Thank you so much." Lori said.
"What are you going to do now?" Natasha asked.
"I need some distance from Slobodan, and have to think about it for a while." Lori said.
"Like, if he still will be your uncle or not?" Marie asked.
"Yes. Slobodan was almost a year the only person I spoke to."
"Where have you been?" Natasha asked.
"In the mountains. Hours away from civilization. I mean, Slobodan helped me to give birth to Lorraine. I passed out. He washed me and Lorraine, put us clothes on and laid us in bed."
"Wow." Natasha said calmly shocked.
"You missed the birth of your baby?" Marie asked.
"Yes. I was unconscious. And when I woke up, Lorraine was resting on my chest."
Marie and Natasha felt touched.
"Aww. You woke up with her on you." Natasha said and hugged Lorraine.
"That means that he took care of you." Marie said.
"I know. He had a family. All I know is that they died during the bombing of Belgrade in 1999. From US Americans. I can be happy that he doesn't hate me."
"That's terrible. But that doesn't change anything if he is involved in any war crimes. The Bosnian war was five years before the NATO bombings on Belgrade." Natasha said.
"You are right..." Lori said and looked.
Lily and Leni were in an ice cream parlor. Lily was eating a chocolate ice cream. In front of Leni was a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
"Thank you Leni."
"No problem Lily."
Lily ate the ice cream. Leni gave her the vanilla ice cream. Lily looked at the ice cream with shining eyes and ate it. When she was finished, she stood up and hugged Leni.
"Thank you Leni."
"Always for you."
Leni and Lily left the ice cream parlor and went to the park. Leni went out onto the lawn with Lily and took out a tennis ball.
"Let's play with this tennis ball." Leni said.
Lily nodded. She ran some meters. Leni threw the ball, and Lily caught it.
"Well done."
Lily threw the ball back. At that moment Leni saw Luna and Sam in the park. The two saw Leni and wanted to leave.
"Stay where you are!"
Leni ran after Luna and Sam. She caught up with them, and yelled.
"I told you that you can't hang out with this Sam! You become like this lesbian whore Lori!"
"I hang out with Sam! She is my girlfriend!" Leni slapped Luna.
"Don't contradict me! You are on the way to become a Lori and I hate that! We're going home!"
Leni took Luna on her wrist. She pulled her away towards Lily.
"Why are you doing this shit?! I'm not Lori! I have no fault!" Luna yelled upset.
Leni turned to her and yelled at her.
"We were both in this small room! You saw what kind of person Lori is! You will not be a second Lori!"
Leni let go of Luna and stormed away angrily. Lily looked judging at Luna.
"I'm sorry Lily. I didn't want to disturb your time with Leni." Luna said.
"Don't make Leni angry." Lily said.
"Lily, I was just hanging around with my girlfriend."
"You made Leni angry."
"I don't care if hanging out with Sam makes her angry. Leni should... I shouldn't say it near you. But Leni should stop acting like a..."
"Like a what?"
"Not important Lily."
Lily looked after Leni and followed her.
Evening fell. Slobodan looked around. There had been no sign of Lori and Lorraine for hours. He walked through the corridors of the hotel. But there was no sign of either of them. Slobodan went back to the apartment. They were probably outside. And it was dark outside. Slobodan searched through the bags in which he had his things. He took a military green jacket with the emblem of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on the shoulder, put it on, and put on a black beret with a white double-headed eagle made of metal. He left the apartment and went outside. But Lori and Lorraine were not outside. They were sitting at the table with Cynthia and Marie, eating spaghetti with tomato sauce.
"How do you handle living here in the apartment?" Lori asked.
"Quite well. We both need to wait for commands. Like you. So, we both listen to the beeper. We change after a few hours. She listens, then I do." Cynthia said.
"Does anyone call for other things?"
"What do you mean? Nobody ever called us." Marie said.
"Maybe Lori didn't listen to the beeper like we did."
"How did she receive commands?"
"Over a phone. You didn't?" Lori asked.
"We never had a phone in New Mexico." Cynthia said.
"How else did you get your orders?"
Cynthia took an in-ear headphone out of her right ear and pulled a radio out of her pocket. She unplugged the headphones, and the radio started to make a two staged beeping sound.
"We call it the beeper. It transmits this sound all day and all night. Until it stops randomly, then we hear number and a phonetic alphabet. When it's over, the beeping sound continues." Lori gave her an odd look.
"I guess I know what you think." Cynthia said.
"Mom, you need to explain to her." Marie said.
"Okay. So, that's a number station. It's a radio station that transmits numbers. And nothing else. Groups of numbers, appearing like randomly generated. But, that isn't. That's an encrypted message. One time encryption. Impossible to decrypt if you don't have the key. Because the encryption is random. After it send the messages, this beeping appears. A channel marker. To keep the frequency clear and to make it easier to tune into."
"That's all? A beeping and random numbers? I'm glad I didn't need to listen to something like that."
"It's encrypted. There is a message. These numbers are the message." Cynthia said.
"I decoded these messages." Marie said.
"How do you do that?" Lori asked.
"Mathematics." Marie answered.
"Could you teach me how to do this?"
"I could. But two things are necessary. The decryption key, and a message that was decrypted with this key. And I don't know when a message comes. Over a year, we were listening to the messages. Only four were encrypted with a key we had. But, basically we have a list. 4 is H, 12 is Z or 23 is R. And then, the numbers get added together with random numbers. When I hear the message, I write the numbers on a sheet of paper. Then I calculate the numbers away, and get the decoded numbers, which I translate in the message. And every key is only for one time. When the message was for us, and I decrypted it, I destroyed the key."
"I can't really follow." Lori said confused.
"She receives numbers, calculates stuff away, and then she can read the messages." Cynthia said.
"Now I get it! That's incredible." Lori said amazed.
"Yes! I heard it in New Mexico and I hear it here. The beeper is audible everywhere. And nobody could ever find out for who a message is." Marie said excited.
"Wow. That's just impressive." Lorraine started moving wildly.
"I need to feed her." Lori took Lorraine, and went with her in the room she got. She closed the door, sat on her bed, and pulled up her shirt. Lorraine started drinking.
"You are very hungry."
The tension in her breast became weaker.
"Finally. This tension goes away." Lori said.
Lorraine kept drinking. After Lori's left breast was empty, she let Lorraine drink from the other one. At some point, however, Lorraine was full and tired. Lori carefully laid Lorraine on the bed, lay down next to her, and carefully covered herself with her.
Slobodan walked trough the park. It was strange for him to walk around at night. Without a weapon. He had the same feelings like over twenty years ago, when he was in Belgrade. He looked around. Lori and Lorraine had to be somewhere. They weren't in the park. But two teenager girls wich were kissing were on a bench. Slobodan's blood froze in his veins.
"Шта радиш?"
(What are you doing?)
He ran to them, and pulled them apart.
"О Боже, молим те, опрости грехе овим девојкама и помози им да крену на чист пут."
(Oh God, please forgive the sins of these girls and help them to come to a pure path.)
"What?" Sam asked.
"Oh man." Luna said.
"God doesn't want you to do this. Go home! And go to church tomorrow. Get rid of your sins." Slobodan said.
"Are you homophobic?" Sam asked upset.
"He is homophobic!" Luna said upset.
"God will help you." Slobodan said.
Luna and Sam ran away.
"God will help you!" Slobodan yelled.
He walked on, and left the Park. Luna and Sam reached the street were Sam's home was. They stopped walking looked at each other.
"What was this creepy guy's deal?" Luna asked.
"He is homophobic. Like your sister." Sam said.
"He wasn't violent. That's better than Leni." Sam looked down the street.
"He looked like a tough guy though." Sam said.
"More like an army veteran. But I am sure that he wasn't in the army. Not in our army."
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't you hear that fat Russian accent he had?"
"Yeah. Now that you mention it… this guy wasn't born here for sure. And isn't long in this country either."
"Come, let's just forget this guy and go home."
"Okay."
They went on, to Sam's home. Slobodan looked around at the train station. The ticket window was closed. Slobodan tried to look through. All he saw was an old computer and traffic plans. Then he looked to the Platforms.
"I hope she didn't take train and leave." Slobodan looked at the platforms.
"Then she is away forever."
In the Morning, Lorraine woke up. She tried to move around. Lori woke up.
"Is something wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"
Lorraine grabbed her arm.
"It's okay. I'm here." Lori said, and wrapped her arm around Lorraine, so that she feels safe.
"Good morning." Marie said.
"It's in the middle of the night. Why do you come here?" Lori asked with a tired voice.
"It's seven in the morning. This is morning."
"What do you want Marie?"
"Mom needs help. Or, you can watch us decoding."
"Decoding what?"
"A message."
"A radio message?"
Marie nodded
"Can we watch?"
"Yes."
They went in the living room where Cynthia was sitting at a table, with a pen, a small book, a sheet of paper with the message, and the beeping radio. Lori looked at the paper.
«X-Ray Papa Golf Lima
268, 638, 727, 682, 692, 277, 839.
Foxtrot, Alpha, Sierra, Uniform, Quebec, Bravo.
569, 551, 501, 567, 198, 689, 210.»
"I'm confused." Lori said.
"That's the encryption. We decode it." Cynthia said.
Marie sat next to Cynthia, and started to decrypt the message. Lori watched her.
"That's impressive."
"It's mathematics."
Marie finished decoding the message. After half an hour she was done.
"Okay. The message says: XPGL. Please report together with M. Stevenson, K. Stevenson, M, Stevenson, L, Loud, C, Stevenson at 28. Industry Avenue Royal Woods at 20:00."
"Okay… we all need to go to a place?" Cynthia asked surprised.
"Seems so." Lori said.
"There are two M. Stevenson." Marie said.
"That means you and your father." Cynthia said.
"They didn't mention Lorraine." Lori said.
"Or Gretchen." Marie said.
"Because they are useless in a lot of ways. They're both babies." Cynthia said.
"Yes. But what can they do except sleeping, eating and crying?!" Cynthia said slightly aggressive.
"Don't talk like this about my daughter!" Lori said angrily.
Lori held Lorraine now closer to her and more protective.
"They can't talk, they can't hold a gun! All they do is sleep, eat, cry, and look cute!"
"At least you say One positive thing about the most important thing in my life!"
Lorraine started crying. Lori looked angry at Cynthia.
"Great! Look what you've done!"
Lori gave Lorraine in Marie's hands. Marie looked with wide eyes at the crying Lorraine, and didn't know what she was supposed to do. Lori took Cynthia at her shoulders, and shook her.
"She was the only thing that kept my will to be alive! Without her, I would have shot myself!"
"I'm sorry! I had to leave my family so they didn't get killed! Sorry!" Cynthia yelled.
Marie started to cry, and ran with Lorraine in the bathroom, and looked the door. Lori and Cynthia stopped, and looked to the bathroom door.
"Damn." Lori said.
"That's the first time since two years I've seen her crying." Cynthia said.
Cynthia got up and knocked on the door.
"Marie?" Marie didn't answer.
Lorraine got quieter, and stopped crying. All she heard now was Marie sobbing and whispering. Lori went to Cynthia.
"What do you hear?" Lori asked.
"She whispers to Lorraine. She still cries, but seemed to calm Lorraine down." Cynthia said.
Lori knocked at the door.
"Marie. Open the door."
The lock got opened. Lori opened the door, and saw Marie standing in front of her with reddened eyes and holding Lorraine.
"What do you want?" Marie asked in an annoyed tone.
"I want to apologize. Because how I acted towards you."
Marie showed Lori Lorraine.
"Apologize to her too." "Okay. I'm sorry Lorraine."
Lori took Lorraine, and went with her and Marie into the bedroom. She closed the door and sat down on the bed with Marie.
"Could you help your mom with her attitude?" Lori asked.
"What's wrong with her attitude?" Marie asked.
"Didn't you hear how she spoke about babies?" Marie tilted her head and thought.
"She wasn't really wrong. Babies aren't useful for that what we might need to do."
"Please don't agree with your mother." Marie looked at Lorraine.
"It's hard not to agree. Except looking cute, she can't do much."
"Just don't. Okay?"
Lori looked at the clock. It was eight in the morning.
"I make breakfast. Please take care of Lorraine."
Lori gave Lorraine to Marie again. Marie looked again with widened eyes at Lorraine. Lori cooked fried eggs and bacon, and put that on toast. Simple breakfast. She finished cooking after a short time and put the meal on the table.
"Marie! Cynthia! Breakfast is ready!" Lori said.
Marie, holding Lorraine, and Cynthia came into the kitchen and sat at the table. They started eating.
"You still have guns?" Cynthia asked.
"My car is full of guns." Lori said.
"Good. Get the rifles later."
That evening, Lori, Marie, Cynthia, Natasha, Mike, and Claire were in the garage. Lorraine was in her car seat in Lori's car, and Gretchen was in the car seat in Mike and Claire's car. The trunks were open. Lori looked at her STGW 57.
"The last time I used it, I ruined my life."
"Don't think about it." Cynthia said.
Lori nodded.
"Can I get a gun?" Marie asked.
Cynthia gave her a pistol.
"Here. Remember how to handle a gun?" Marie nodded.
"Good. If you flag anyone, you're in trouble."
"I take care. Nothing will happen."
"Good. Natasha, have an eye on her."
Natasha, holding her SIG 550, nodded.
"I will."
Marie got annoyed.
"I don't need to be watched."
"Don't act like that, and go to Natasha." Cynthia said.
Marie went to Natasha, and stood next to her.
"Don't treat me like a child." Marie said annoyed.
"I treat you how I think you should be treated." Natasha said.
Lori and Cynthia got in Lori's car. They drove off, and Mike followed them with his car, with Natasha, Marie, Claire and Gretchen. They drove to an industrial park. The part of Royal Woods where steel was produced and chemical products were made. Lori didn't know a lot about this part of Royal Woods. Except that it was polluted by chemicals and other greasy substances. The address they got was for an old factory building. It was behind walls, and the place in front of it was only accessible through a large door. They drove through the big door and parked next to some bushes. They got out and loaded their firearms. Claire married Gretchen and Lorraine.
"If you hear gunfire, run away. Okay?" Lori said to Claire.
"Okay." Claire said and nodded.
"Shut up and focus."
"Blah blah." Cynthia said annoyed.
Lori pointed her STGW 57 at Cynthia's head.
"Say that again!"
"Okay. Just put that rifle down. That would shred my head." Cynthia said.
Lori pointed it down.
"Did you just try to shoot my mother?" Natasha said upset.
"She made me do that! Tell her to learn to shut her mouth and it doesn't happen again!"
"Never point a gun at her again!" Marie yelled.
"You crossed a line!" Natasha said angrily.
"Keep it down." Lori said.
"I stay with Claire..." Mike said.
"You scaredy cat." Lori said.
"I'm not. I just don't want to get in a shooting between you."
"Why do you think that, dad?" Natasha asked.
"You were many times close to killing each other."
"He is right." Marie said.
"I mean, yeah. I held a gun at you." Lori said.
"And we shot at each other once." Natasha said.
Natasha showed the scar she had on the side of her neck.
"I remember." Lori said.
"We really tried to kill each other that day."
"Let's talk about that later. Mike, Claire, take care of the babies. Cynthia, Tasha, Marie, let's go."
They went to the factory and entered it. The production hall was not really enlightened, but they saw enough to see two men. One was wearing a black coat. The other was wearing a uniform. Lori pointed her STGW 57 at them, and Cynthia her pistol.
"Identify yourself!" Cynthia yelled.
"Don't move!" Lori added.
"It's me retards!" One of the men yelled.
"Identify yourself!" Marie yelled, pointing the pistol at them.
"I'm Smith and that's a Military dude!"
Lori, Natasha, Marie and Cynthia looked confused at each other.
"Military guy? Explain." Lori said.
"Nuclear weapons belong to the military!" The Army officer yelled.
He sounded like he was over sixty, and had smoked too many cigarettes. They noticed that his uniform looked like higher rank.
"What kind of uniform is that?" Natasha asked.
"United States Army, ABC protection forces."
"Okay. So you are an army guy. Why did you order us here Smith?"
"Because we're gonna end something."
"Ending what?"
"The illegal Nuke production!"
"Wait… So we have to do that? We, some people who might kill each other, and not the FBI? Explain that to me." Cynthia said.
"We just want as few people involved as possible." Smith said.
"Nah Cynthia. We can handle that." Lori said.
"Okay. Where are the red-haired women and the man. Mike, right?"
"They are outside. Taking care of the babies."
"Right. You and them got a baby."
"We do." Natasha said.
"Can you get them?" The Army officer asked.
"Why should we do that?" Marie asked.
"Because they are also involved." Smith said.
Marie went outside. She came back with Mike and Claire. Mike was holding Lorraine, but gave her to Lori.
"Here. Take her." Mike said.
"Lori took Lorraine.
"I thought without the babies, but okay." Smith said.
"I saw many things in Afghanistan. But seeing babies involved in anything is nothing I can accept Smith."
"They don't get involved in anything. That's for sure. So, what do we need to do exactly?" Lori asked.
"Together with specially chosen agents, you're going to arrest Thompson and his people." Smith said.
"So, we're doing police work. You have so many people. Why us?" Cynthia asked.
"Because just police work isn't enough. We need guerrilla tactics."
"Guerrilla. That's a form of warfare." Mike said.
"Yes. The biggest problem we will face are helicopters. And we need tactics police normally doesn't have." The army officer said.
"Shooting down helicopters…" Lori said shocked.
"How are we gonna shot down a helicopter? With these guns?" Cynthia said upset.
"That is impossible." Natasha said.
"No. The fall of communism had something positive. Russia wasn't a problem anymore, well, they are again a problem, but a lit of Soviet weapon systems came in the west. Also something that is useful for this purpose."
The officer went to something big that was under camouflage tarpaulin. Big didn't describe it enough. It was twice as high as the officer. Extremely wide. He pulled the tarpaulin away, and it revealed a tank. A tank with four guns, a green painting, and a Red Five-pointed star on the side.
"This is a ZSU-23-4. Also called, Shilka." The officer said.
Lori, Natasha, Cynthia, Marie, Mike and Claire looked amazed at it. It was enormous. And looked like it can solve everything in matter of seconds. Only Lorraine and Gretchen didn't have any thoughts about it.
"It is gigantic." Natasha said."
"It shoots 23 millimeter bullets. High explosive, or armor piercing. Can lock up aircrafts and helicopters from kilometers of distance. Four people are needed to control it, and make it clear the sky." The army officer said.
"We want you to make a group of three people each. And try to find a place for the babies." Smith said.
"Okay." Lori said.
"You need to get used to it the next few days. But for now, you are allowed to go back to your apartment." Smith said.
"When do we need to come back here?" Natasha asked.
"Tomorrow at 2 p.m. Then someone is here who works with you." The army officer said.
"Okay. Are we allowed to leave?" Cynthia asked.
"Yes. You are." The officer said.
They all went back to the cars and went back to the hotel. Slobodan was in the apartment of him and Lori. He thought where Lori could be.
"One night and one morning. I have not found her."
Slobodan heard steps on the floor outside. He went outside and saw Lori, with Lorraine in her arms, and Cynthia and Marie walking to the door next to his apartment.
"Yes! There you are. I was looking for you all night and day." Slobodan said.
"Slobodan, I was just two apartments away from our apartment. There was no need to look for me and Lorraine." Lori said.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I wanted some distance."
"Distance for what?"
"Because I don't know what you did thirty years ago, in Bosnia."
"I told you. I was commander of Shilka. I was shooting planes."
"Shooting at Planes. Yes! NATO Intervention of Bosnia! You shot at US aircrafts!"
"They attacked us. Do I have to surrender and let me get killed when we were attacked?"
"Okay, okay. You have a point there."
Marie pulled on Cynthia's shirt.
"Mom. He mentioned a Shilka." Marie said.
"Yes Marie. And now?" Cynthia asked.
"We saw a Shilka today. The tank we saw was called Shilka."
"So you mean, he was operating such a thing?" Cynthia asked. Marie nodded.
"I am very sure."
"Slobodan, can you show us the photos again?" Lori asked.
"Yes. Come with me."
Slobodan walked into his and Lori's apartment. Lori, with Lorraine on her arm, Cynthia and Marie followed him. In the living room, he took the album and showed it to Lori, Cynthia and Marie.
"Here. Photos from Bosnia." Slobodan said.
"The book literally says Shilka." Cynthia said.
Slobodan opened the book and showed them photos. He showed them the photo Lori had already seen the day before. But now she recognized the man who stood in the hatch of the tank. It was Slobodan himself. Just thirty years younger. Marie on the other hand recognized the tank.
"This is a Shilka! The same thing."
"How did you operate this?" Lori asked.
"I didn't really operate it. I was commander. Means I gave orders to gunner, radar operator and driver. The biggest things I did was small repair work."
"Would you be able, if you could get back on a Shilka, to operate it?" Cynthia asked.
"Maybe. I need to remember. But I might be able."
They all looked stunned at Slobodan. Cynthia then turned to Lori.
"Lori, we got the first one for the first group."
"What group?" Slobodan asked.
"We have a mission. You will see it tomorrow." Lori said.
Lori walked out of the apartment with Lorraine on her arm, and Marie and Cynthia behind her.
"I'm tired." Lori said.
"This man is on the team now?" Marie asked.
"Yes. If he knows these machines, then he should be in this team." Cynthia said.
They entered the apartment of Cynthia and Marie.
Lori and Lorraine woke up. Lorraine was immediately hungry. Lori took off her shirt and let Lorraine drink from her breast. Marie entered the room. She noticed Lori feeding Marie and turned around and stared at the ceiling.
"I'm sorry." Marie said.
"No problem Marie. Did you want to say something?" Lori asked.
"Can you please get ready to meet those soldiers?"
"Marie. That's in five hours. And those weren't soldiers. That was an FBI agent and an army officer."
"But he was from the army."
"Yes. And?"
"I just want you to say the right things." Lori closed her eyes and counted to ten.
"Anything else you want to tell me?" Lori said annoyed.
"Do you need help with anything?"
"Could you please make breakfast?"
"Okay. How?"
"Go to your mom and ask her to teach it to you." Marie went to Cynthia.
"Can you show me how to make breakfast?"
"Okay. Come into the kitchen."
The two went into the kitchen and prepared everything for cooking.
"Normally, you need to put oil in a pan to fry eggs. But, bacon is fatty. So we put the bacon in the pan, and after we are done with the bacon, we can fry the eggs without the oil, because the fat replaces the oil." Marie nodded.
"Do the eggs taste like bacon after that?" Marie asked.
"A little bit." Cynthia put the bacon in the hot pan.
"So. You watch it, and if you think it looks good, you put it on a plate."
"How do I see when it's good enough?" Marie asked.
"When it looks in a way that makes you think, yes, that's perfect."
"So, I just need to think it's good?"
"Yes kinda."
Marie watched the bacon as it became more and more roasted. She took the pan, and put the bacon on a plate.
"So. Now you break the eggs and pour them in the pan."
Cynthia broke an egg and poured it in. Marie nodded, and made the same. They watched the eggs frying in the pan. When the eggs were done, they put them on toast with the bacon. Marie put the food on the table.
"Lori! I made breakfast!" Marie said excitedly.
Lori came in the kitchen with Lorraine, put Lorraine in a baby seat, and sat down.
"So, does Marie know now to cook?" Lori asked.
"Yes. Well, just bacon egg toast." Cynthia said.
After breakfast, they left the kitchen and walked to the living room. Lori held Lorraine in her arms.
"Well done Marie." Lori said. Marie blinked slowly at Lori.
"Thank you."
"The bacon was perfect."
"I cooked it until I thought it was good."
"You have a good taste."
"I know."
The morning passed peacefully, and after lunch Lori left Lorraine with Cynthia, and drove with Natasha, Marie and Slobodan to the old factory. The group entered the old factory. Slobodan saw the Shilka and stared at her.
"Ово је невероватно. ЗСУ-23-4."
(This is unbelievable. A ZSU-23-4.)
Slobodan walked towards the Shilka, climbed on the chassis, and on the turret, and opened the hatch. A female voice yelled something.
"Hey! What do you think you are doing?"
It was Carol Pringrey.
"Carol? You are that agent?" Lori said.
Carol looked at Lori, and Carol made and expression that looked like she really didn't want to talk to Lori.
"You are involved in this? Why can't I have my peace?" Lori sighted.
"Hi Carol." Lori said with a sad voice.
"Hi. What is this guy doing?" Carol asked, and looked at Slobodan.
In this moment, Slobodan went through the hatch, and they heard him sit down in the Shilka. Seconds later, they heard him yelling.
"Возач спреман! Тобџију, активирај радар!"
(Driver, get ready! Gunner, activate radar!)
"Slobodan! Don't start the fucking Tank!" Lori yelled.
"For fucks sake!" Carol yelled, and climbed onto the Shilka.
They heard Slobodan moving around in the vehicle. Carol put her head in the hatch.
"Get the hell out of it!"
They heard Slobodan's voice answering.
"Forget that. I was so long not in a beauty like that. Lori, condition of Shilka is maybe good. Need to take a better look."
"Lori take him out of there!"
"Wait Carol. Slobodan, can you check out the whole vehicle?" Lori yelled.
"Да. But I need light."
"Carol, could you give him a flashlight?"
Carol rolled her eyes, and searched her pockets. She found one, turned it on, and held it trough the hatch. Slobodan took it, and they heard him moving again. He started looking at everything.
"Значи... батерија, без напона... затварач аутоматског топа... Врло добро стање. Седишта и радарска контрола... тотално прашњава... квачило..."
(So… battery, no voltage… automatic cannon bolt… very good condition. Seats and radar control… totally dusty… clutch…)
They heard him pulling a lever.
"Тако је, ствар је имала аутоматски мењач."
(That's right, the thing had an automatic transmission.)
Slobodan held his head out of the hatch.
"I need ten batteries. Big 24 volt batteries. Hundred liters of diesel, and ten liters of machine oil. And tools to take the engine apart."
Carol, Lori, Natasha and Marie looked dumbfounded at each other.
"That are many things." Marie said.
"Maybe things. Why do you need so much?" Lori asked.
"I need to make sure that this thing is able to start before we use it." Slobodan said.
"Wait a moment." Carol said, and took a phone out of her pocket.
She dialed a contact, and called it.
"Yeah. It's me. Listen, we apparently need hundred liters of diesel, ten liters of oil, ten batteries with 24 volts, and tools." Carol listened to her phone.
"Yes… yes…" She looked at Slobodan.
"Okay. So, batteries are at the department? Okay… Okay… the rest can be brought here? Super… Okay… Thank you."
"Hey! Natasha and your little clone! Go to the FBI department! Smith prepares batteries for you!" Carol said.
"Who are you calling a clone?" Marie asked curious.
"You! You look like Natasha!"
Natasha and Marie looked annoyed at Carol.
"No joke, she's my sister." Natasha said annoyed.
"You have a sister? Smith needs to give me the files."
"Hey, reminds me of a question. Can you drive?" Lori asked.
"Yes. I'm now allowed to." Natasha said.
"Good. Take my car." Lori said, and gave her the key.
"Thank you. See you later."
Natasha and Marie went to Loris car. Slobodan went back inside the tank, and kept checking it. Lori climbed on the tank, and on the turret.
"Hey Slobodan. Could you show us this thing?" Lori asked.
"Get in." Slobodan answered.
"Do you want to go in first?" Lori asked.
Carol looked at her, and climbed through the hatch. Lori followed her, and sat down on a seat. Carol was sitting next to her at her right, and on Carols right was Slobodan sitting.
"So. This woman… what is your name?" Slobodan asked.
"Carol." Slobodan said her name and pronounced the r extremely strong.
"Carol. Okay. You are sitting on the gunner seat. I sit on the loader seat. Lori, you are on the commander seat. Now, Carol, you see aiming system?"
"Yes."
"Look through it."
Carol looked through the lenses of the aiming system.
"Oh. I see the hall, and numbers."
"Да. Optical aiming. In front of you is screen. This is the radar screen."
"This thing has a radar?"
"Да."
"That's impressive."
"Да. Shilka has radar to see aircraft. You aim at aircraft, and shoot at it. With explosive bullets." Slobodan said.
"Carol. He knows what he is talking about." Lori said.
"How do you mean?" Carol asked with a suspicious look.
"He was commander of such a thing. He was member of the Vojska Jugoslavije, and the army of Republika Srpska."
"What country?"
"Yugoslavia. And Srpska. He is a Serb."
Slobodan saluted at this moment.
"Слава Србији!"
(Glory to Serbia!)
Carol was stunned and surprised at the same time. "From where do you know each other?" "I was hiding in the mountains, and he was the only person that was around there. Until my daughter Lorraine was born… by his help." Lori said. Carol leaned back and stared at the radar screen.
"I didn't know what you were doing, until I was in the middle of a shooting… Ripped out of a good life… I see every day in my mind that moment you shot this guy."
"Why is she on pills?" Lori asked confused.
"You bitch!"
Carol wanted to beat Lori up. Slobodan held her back.
"You can stop Blondie." Slobodan said.
"She is on pills because the doctors had to prescribe her medication! She is traumatized, because she saw that you shot someone in the head right in front of her!"
"Oh fuck." Lori said, and held her head. She had a feeling like when she saw what she had done to her family.
"I hope you feel guilty for the rest of your life!" Carol yelled.
"If you don't stop, I'll let you both clean the motor!" Slobodan said aggressively. Lori and Carol stopped.
"Right decision. Motor of Shilka is very dirty." Slobodan looked at the bolts of the automatic cannons.
"If you do that again, I'll clean the motor with your hair and make you look like mine digger."
Lori and Carol looked confused at Slobodan.
"What do you mean?" Lori asked.
"I will clean the engine with you. That's what I mean."
"He means it literally." Carol said to herself.
Natasha and Marie drove through Royal Woods.
"There is something strange." Marie said.
"What is strange?" Natasha asked.
"Well, we are literally going to use a tank for a mission. With FBI guys. Are we agents now?"
"Hmm… good question."
"Or are we now military members, since we use a tank?"
"So a good question."
"I asked this my mom before we left, and she said that I shouldn't annoy her with nonsense. Do I talk nonsense?" Marie asked.
"Sometimes yes. Sometimes you actually say smart stuff." Marie looked at Natasha and blinked slowly.
"There it is. The FBI department." Natasha said, and stopped in the parking lot.
Smith was standing next to ten big batteries that were labeled with "Lead Oxide 24 Volt", and with skull and crossbones. Natasha and Marie got out.
"Hello. Those are the batteries?" Natasha asked.
"Yes. 24 volts with over three hundred ampere hours." Smith said.
"Great. Marie, open the trunk."
Marie nodded, and opened the trunk. Natasha and Smith put the batteries in the trunk. They were really heavy. After they were done, they closed the trunk, and Natasha started smoking a cigarette.
"Remember that those things shouldn't get shortened." Smith said.
"Okay. I know that it's bad to short a battery." Natasha said.
"Yes. But those can explode. So don't short them."
Smith went to the FBI department. Marie and Natasha stayed near the car, and Natasha continued smoking. Marie looked at Natasha.
"I don't know if I ever told you, but I love you Natasha."
"No. I think you never said that." Natasha said. "Then I said it now."
"I missed you. It was hard to meet my little sister I never knew, and don't see her for a year again."
Marie started to blink slowly, and smiling. She was visibly feeling touched.
"I missed you too." Natasha threw her cigarette away and they hugged for a moment.
"Let's go back. We can do something this evening. Just for us. And for the time we missed." Marie nodded.
"Yes, please."
Natasha and Marie got in the car and drove back to the factory.
"Hey Marie. I need to ask you something."
Marie looked at her, and her look was telling Natasha, that she was listening.
"I have so many thoughts since yesterday… Do you think we're doing the right thing? With this tank and those people?"
Marie looked at the dashboard of the car.
"I don't know… It's the FBI… I think there are worse people to work with."
"That's true… But still… I don't want to do this to be honest… I just wish sometimes the last two years never happened."
"But then we never met." Marie said.
"You are the only good thing that happened to me."
"Knowing that you existed answered so many questions I had about myself." Marie said.
Natasha put her hand on Marie's leg.
"I know what you are talking about."
Lori looked at Barrels of Oil. Eight barrels with each a Hundred liters of oil, and Twenty Barrels of Diesel fuel. Slobodan Looked at the tools in front of him.
"Those guys were actually able to get all of this so fast?" Lori asked.
"Yes. It's the US Army. That's peanuts for the strongest military of the world. and you know that they even left a forklift here." Carol said, and pointed at the forklift in the corner of the factory hall.
"Sad that America helped Ustasha Pigs." Slobodan said, looking at the tools.
"What is Ustasha?" Carol asked.
"To put it very simple, that's the name from the Croatian Nazis from the Second World War. They worked together with Hitler and killed Serbs and Jews. Slobodan used the word wrong, to insult Croatians." Lori said.
"Why?"
"Because he hates Croatians."
"Oh my god! He is racist!" Carol said shocked.
"He isn't a racist… right?"
Lori remembered the fight between Slobodan and a Croatian man, and how he talked about Croatians.
"Oh my god. You are a racist." Lori said and looked at Slobodan.
"What have I done?" Slobodan asked.
"You are racist." Carol said.
"Carol, we can maybe change him." Lori said.
"I hope so."
"Нимало. You can forget that."
"We will." Lori whispered to Carol.
Slobodan took the tools, and started opening the engine part of the Shilka.
"What are you doing?" Lori asked confused.
"I need to make sure that this thing works. If it doesn't work, then it's useless." Slobodan said.
"That makes sense."
"That makes me think of, when a tank is broken in a war, and you can't repair it on the battlefield, what do you do then?" Carol asked.
"You blow it up or burn it down." Slobodan said.
"Blow it up… Is it safe to ask or do I have to expect something crazy?"
"You only know if you ask. But then it's too late." Lori said.
"Okay. Why do you blow a tank up?"
"You have two options. Blow it up, or give a free tank to the enemy. You of course blow it up." Slobodan said.
"Okay… And you ever did something like that?" Carol asked.
"No. That wasn't the case."
Two hours later, the engine was put apart. Lori, Carol, and Natasha and Marie who arrived looked at the sorted parts of the engine wich were on the concrete floor. Slobodan sat next to the parts and controlled them.
"So… That's the motor…" Natasha said.
"The parts of the motor." Marie said.
"He took it apart." Carol said.
"I hope you can put it together again." Lori said.
"Да. Parts look good. Shilka will work." Slobodan said.
"She asked if you could put it back together." Marie said.
"Да."
"Means that yes?" Marie asked.
"Yes." Lori said.
"It's the same word like in Russian. That's why I understand Lori and him to some extent." Natasha said. Slobodan put the Engine together, and finished that one and a half hour later.
"Carol, I need oil." Slobodan said.
Carol nodded, and got on the Forklift. She started it, and lifted a barrel of oil. Slobodan opened a hole near the engine. Carol drove the forklift to the Shilka. Slobodan opened the barrel, screwing off the lid, and screwing on a pipe. He put the pipe in the hole of the oil tank, and started pouring it in.
"Takes some minutes until enough oil is in." Slobodan said.
"We install the batteries." Natasha said.
"Good."
Natasha and Marie took the batteries they got, and replaced the old batteries with new ones. While they did that, Carol and Slobodan finished filling the Shilka with oil. The barrel went empty, and Slobodan closed the lid of the oil tank. They started filling diesel in the Shilka. They finished the work on it. They stood in front of it, and looked at the Shilka.
"Can we power it up?" Marie asked.
"Да." Slobodan said.
"Let's go then." Lori said.
Slobodan climbed in the Shilka, and entered it over the hatch on the turret. He climbed out pretty fast, and went back on the floor.
"Forgot something."
Slobodan went to the front, and opened a hatch. Behind the hatch was the driver seat and all the controls for driving. Slobodan sat in, and switched a switch, and pushed some buttons. The dashboard turned on, and the headlights started glowing.
"Attention!"
Slobodan turned a key. It became really loud. The Shilka made noises that sounded like the motor had hard time starting. Slobodan continued. Black smoke came from the exhaust, and the engine started running. The monstrous machine became alive.
"We're live!" Marie said excitedly.
Slobodan carefully pressed the accelerator pedal. The Shilka slowly started moving forward. Slobodan stopped it, and drove it backwards to its original place. He left the engine running, got out, and climbed up the turret. He went in.
"What are you doing?" Lori yelled.
The shaped radar that was lowered behind the turret lifted up. The turret turned to the left, and the four automatic cannons lifted up and pointed to the ceiling. Lori, Natasha, Marie and Carol looked shocked and confused at the turret.
"What are you doing?!" Lori yelled.
The turret turned to the right, and lowered the automatic cannons. Then it turned back, facing forwards. Slobodan got out the of the turret.
"It works. Radar, aiming, everything how it should." Slobodan said.
Slobodan went down on the concrete floor and sat back in. He turned the engine off, and then turned of the lights.
"Everything works. But I need to test everything to know."
"We already put the engine apart and build it back together." Marie said.
"I need to drive it. Test if it behaves well." Slobodan said.
"Like, driving over test road or like through a forest?" Carol asked.
"Да. Something like this." Slobodan said.
"I will see if I can arrange something like that." Carol said.
"And what are we doing now?" Natasha asked.
"I don't know. I mean, we are done for now. We only can wait when we have to go to do our mission."
"So… can we go home?" Lori asked.
"Yes. But I want to talk to you for a moment." Carol said.
"Okay."
Slobodan, Marie and Natasha left the factory. Carol and Lori looked at each other now. They were alone. Both of them said nothing. They opened their arms, and hugged each other.
"I missed you." Carol said.
"I missed you too."
And without any other word, Lori left the factory.
End of the Chapter