Wildlife Security Solutions LLC – Contract #2, pt 1

It took Volk ten days of rest, recovery, and whatever passed for pain medicine in Haven to be able to walk without tremors in his lower legs. Seeing the pup move under his own power pleased Akula, which was one of the few pleasures he’d derived in life since returning from Al Jufra. Constant training took up a large portion of their days during this time, and he made sure his team drilled both in things they knew and tasks they’d never done before. Grizli was quick to understand the electronics of a wireless detonator and the preferred explosive-to-fragmentation ratio for a simple improvised bomb, earning a rare bit of Chechen praise. Nosorog had been slow to understand the methodical breathing and focus that was needed for distance shooting, but he had learned to at least slow his wild lead-flinging for the next time they had to assault a metropolis. Akula himself was given a condensed course in piloting a Pop-Feniks onto its intended target, which was more difficult than he’d previously understood. Rhino could fly this between the grains of sand! Der’mo, how is he so clairvoyant?

As soon as the pup was cleared for duty again, Shark ensured Wolf first had a long drink to put a fire back in his belly. Much to Volk’s own irritation, he then set his fang aside for a spell and was brought under the cruel tutelage of both Akula and Tsezar on how to defend himself with only his fists. His petite size made Volk easy for both to toss around the sparring mat, and that would not change quickly. Still, after an additional week of consistent drills and verbal beratement from Tsezar, Volk started to put together how to roll with the momentum, how to counter the hits with sharp attacks to the joints and nerves.

There was another, unspoken reason for the grueling regiment Akula assigned to his team, one which none of this team protested directly. Busy hands and growing minds meant they didn’t have time to idly watch the raging war ongoing between their Russian employer and the former Soviet state of Ukraine. Such rigorous training also let Akula see how Grizli and Nosorog viewed their current standings and their place under contract to Russia. He could see the moments where the Chechen would ask the Ukrainian about things he’d heard, and for that same question to be asked in reverse. Akula had little doubt that the two had discussed the events that left Grizli as one of only two Ukrainians left in Haven, but Grizli was quick to point out how Nosogorg was the only non-Muslim Chechen among them whenever Akula had overheard such chatter. With such historical tensions already running high, he had to wonder now if this was the action Nosorog needed to finally try and kill them all, and what Grizli would do if that happened.. Things had not unfolded as Tsezar had predicted, even after only two weeks. Kyiv had not fallen, nor had Odessa or Kharkiv. Long-cratered fields splitting Ukraine’s eastern third were once again awash in flame and blood, yet it did not move. Akula could not believe what he was hearing, and the lack of contact with Pasha made his concerns grow deeper, a thorny spire next to his spine. Der’mo, how much of NATO was waiting for us there? How long before the West hunts us down, too? What’s the cost to eradicate a small mercenary group compared to political capitol?

For Shark himself, the workload served to distract him both from the war and from a realization he’d had seven days prior, when everything he’d understood as a constant in the contract was turned upside down. There will be no reprieve to visit Liliya at rest, no downtime to see Pasha and little Andre. Until we are needed, we are forgotten. No longer did the incoming supply flights bear the gleaming Red Star on their wings. Now that their material lifeline was under Rashadi’s more direct control, banners of companies he’d never heard of carried Wildlife’s mission now. Until they were summoned, all Akula could do was train, learn, and gamble on the chance of catching Pasha online, just to remind her that he was alive. Will Andre even know me when he sees me? 

Haven itself was not still after the fall of Al Jufra, despite Shark’s band of predators remaining mission-less. Though it received no further manpower or equipment from the company directly, what was present deployed or flew daily, most of it heading westward. Before this, Shark would’ve queried Spider to see what shook the web, but after their last encounter, the former intelligence operative kept his bloodied chin far from Shark. Whenever the two crossed paths, even at a distance, Spider only gave Shark a venomous glare, though Shark could see a current of mistrust behind the anger. Do you fear the shadows you used to lurk in, kiska? Have you lost trust in the mission, or just those next to you?

The appearance of Wildlife’s corporate An-26 gently floating down into Haven seventeen days after it had left made Akula’s unease even worse. Tsezar had not called for him, the first hint that this flight was meant to upend whatever harmony Haven harbored in this moment. Stepping out of the weapons-cleaning tent, Akula watched the small transport creep down the runway, its nose seemingly pointed right at his chest as if to swallow him whole. When it finally turned away to follow the taxiway to a parking spot, Akula caught sight of Tsezar and Pauk walking in tandem from the command office to meet it. 

But when a wave of silver-streaked ebony hair and glistening green eyes appeared through the open hatch to announce the presence of the new arrival, Mikhail’s blood froze in his veins. I’d know those bloodthirsty eyes even in death…but why is Orchid here?

Polina Amurovich Volkov, Wildlife’s Regional Chief for Eastern Operations, was a woman as treacherous as she was effective, if Tsezar was to be believed. Unlike most of the company’s board, which had been promoted from the Russian uniformed forces, or had bought their postings through bribery and padded contracts, Polina clawed her way to the Board of Directors with methods and resources learned in the SVR, a branch of the Russian intelligence hydra Mikhail didn’t fully understand. Several of her competitors in power and influence had conveniently disappeared or been imprisoned to make that happen, a method Akula had come to loathe even from his earliest days at sea. The fact she’d been given the callsign ‘Orchid’ still confused Akula, despite the years of company service. That bitch is as soft and welcoming as a razorwire condom… If she’d been my recruiter to the company… I’d have run West with joy!

Wasting no time in even acknowledging the outstretched hand of greeting from Tsezar or Pauk, Orchid simply marched into the command office. Several of her staff followed in short order, and to Akula’s surprise, some carried medical equipment and even pulled a stretcher with them. Akula had not heard of anyone being injured in recent operations, and given how much time Grizli had been spending with his Oksana, Akula could not imagine the company was in any medical strife at the moment. 

Against his better judgment, Shark did not immediately move to summon his team, instead choosing to watch the new pawns and their work. The team pulling the stretcher immediately veered away from the group toward the small cement hatchway dozens of meters from the runway. It was where Solomon kept his playthings in the dark so every hint of sunlight promised them pain and suffering. They stopped at the entrance, and rapped twice on the seal, prompting one of Solomon’s apprentices to allow them down. Impressively, only a few moments later, the same team emerged with a patient strapped to their stretcher. Akula’s jaw fell open when he saw the malnourished and exhausted form of Il-Sung Ri race from the pit to Haven’s medical building.  

“Why is Management back?” Volk chimed in, breaking Akula’s focus. 

“Not sure yet, but they took our Korean for a checkup.” Akula nodded, noting Volk’s ability to sneak up on him with high regard. 

“If Grizli had kept his woman busier, he might’ve died in there.” Volk quipped dismissively, at which Akula nodded. Maybe it would have been better for our Korean comrade to have just been shot by now…

“Speaking of, are he and Nosorog still in the exercise yard?” Akula queried.

Volk shook his head, “Rec bunker. Had to settle which of Satlin’s stomping grounds got the better version of durak.”

The sailor gave his shorter teammate a curious gaze at the choice of words. “Suspicious?”

Volk nodded, “Always. Sometimes old blood is stronger than words of loyalty.”

Akula was about to protest his teammate’s dour conclusion before the sound of breaking glass and shouting silenced them. Adding on top of the unusual scene, Pauk and a second soldier emerged from the command center. Pauk gestured angrily towards a fenced-in motor-pool area, then caught sight of Akula watching the scene. Pauk’s still-livid gesture for Akula to approach caught the latter off-guard.

“Find the others, we may have work.” Akula commanded, sending Volk southeast as he stepped forward. “Someone break your toys?”

Pauk hissed at him, and Akula could see the other man’s fist tense up for a shot, though Pauk hesitated. “You’re summoned, fucker. I hope she throws your ass in prison for keeping that garbage alive.”

Akula gave Pauk a stern sneer, rubbing his chin in the same spot he’d cracked the other man with a pistol butt. “I’ll save you a cell with me.” Carefully stepping around Pauk to leave the spook stewing in anger, Akula jogged to Tsezar’s office. 

Despite having just arrived, Orchid’s minions had quickly taken to task in pulling out every scrap of paper and hard drive from every safe, shelf, locker, and closet. Tsezar himself had been forced outside his own office, with a guard posted at the doorway to bar Haven’s commanding man from re-entering his own workcenter. Akula could see the veins throbbing in Tsezar’s neck and shoulders, but also noted the guard’s weapon had already been charged and its safety was off. 

“Der’mo, what’s going on?” Akula asked aloud, watching the frenzy of pilfering continue.

Tsezar let out a long, deep sigh dripping with frustration. “The mess you brought down on us has finally come to collect.” Running a hand through buzzed brown hair, Tsezar looked up at Akula. “Closest conference room. Don’t keep her waiting.”

Nodding an understanding, Akula walked backwards at first, partly mesmerized by the tornado of confiscation going on that left a leader he respected emasculated. Akula had only heard of such fury from Orchid, but he’d hoped until now that it was only a rumor.

The conference room itself was already small, as it had been a map and air-tour planning room for the luxury pilots in Libya’s former life. The table they’d built inside it upon beginning Haven’s operations only had eight seats, much smaller than the briefing room where Akula had flattened Silverback and taken over the Al Jufra operation. Orchid was sitting at the far end of the table, engrossed in a folder of papers in front of her. Akula stood at attention and announced himself as he did for Lisus, but Orchid ignored him. The days of seamanship commanded Akula to hold his salute until his arm began to shake, and he failed to stop a grunt of exertion after a couple minutes of holding the pose.

Only when she heard his strain did Orchid look up from her reading, satisfied in her establishment of dominance. With a dismissive wave of her hand, she let Akula drop the salute. Dark emerald eyes scanned him up and down for a moment before she spoke, “I’d expected you to be taller, given how much shit you’ve stacked up here.”

Akula caught his jaw starting to grind and clenched it to stop himself. “Anything specific you wish to address? I’m sure Lisus filled you in on our mission here.”

“I don’t give a fuck about what some Qatari sandrat has you doing here, and neither does Lisus. The company gets paid no matter who accomplished the mission.” Orchid retorted sharply, tapping a finger on her folder. “And your idiocy cost that mission time, men, and weapons that we shouldn’t need to replace.”

Akula immediately felt the fist Lisus had planted in his stomach days ago echo back into his thoughts. “A mistake we reviewed in detail before he left, which I’m sure he passed on to you.”

Orchid narrowed her eyes, tapping a finger on her folder, “His personal review and praise of your sheer dumb luck is the ONLY thing keeping you out of prison. Make no mistake about it, if Wildlife were mine, Tsezar would have buried you in a shallow dune and not even bothered to tell Pasha.”

Bringing his dear wife into the conversation snapped Akula’s patience, and a white-knuckled fist slammed into the table, cratering the edge. “Had the company put Tsezar in charge and not Silverback, we’d be done already, and your pale kiska would still be drinking blood in Moscow!”

Akula’s icy blue eyes locked into Orchid’s venomous green ones as she stared down the enraged sailor. He could feel his blood running hot in his fist, forcing him to unclench it. To his surprise, Orchid actually smiled briefly at the intensity. “At least you have that much sense, unlike the company’s investors. That’s the instinct I want, an understanding of real leadership instead of corrupt politics.”

Resisting the urge to take a step back, Akula felt a sudden discomfort at the chance in her demeanor. “I take it you have work?”

“The worst, most degrading kind someone like you could be put into.” Orchid replied, spinning her folder under her grasp and pushing it toward him. “Diplomacy.”

Once it was free from her claw-like finger, Akula opened it. It took only a second of reading for him to shake his head in shock “They can’t be serious! Lisus would never approve!”

“Once again, you failed to see the larger picture.” Orchid hissed, folding her hands together. “I know you admire his experience and mentorship, but you did not heed his lessons. This is one reason Lisus assigned your team to this mission, despite my objections. His counterpoint was childish at best; that since you opened this rat’s nest, you have to walk into it and bow to its king.”

Akula had no response to that, as he re-read the short overview of his next mission and felt his stomach turn over. 

“The flight for P’yong’yang will arrive tonight, and you’ll be on it as soon as we are assured we can safely transport Il-Sung Ri and all those Koreans taken prisoner.” Orchid relayed as she stood up. Walking past him to leave the conference room, she turned to hit Akula again with a parting barb. “A year in Korean service is better than one in prison, even if they work you just as hard. Be thankful for that.”

******

Part 20 (or Part 1 of the 2nd Act) of the Wildlife team, and the beginning of a major shift for all involved. It’s a little different than what I’d originally plotted out, but after some time to digest current events and to find a new rhythm, turns out getting back to pants-ing this story just works better in my mind. It’s a whole new world Akula’s masters have sold them into, with whole new dangers. What will they make of it all? And will they make it to the contract’s end? That we shall see as soon as they tell me.

I hope you all enjoy.

Contract 1, parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19