It took Akula at least half an hour to regain enough of his senses to take the folder and seek out his team. His mind raced as he walked with how he was going to design his message to them, how he would sell their new contract to each of his team. I doubt Leonid will care, he can play with those poor, deprived Korean whores. Fyodor will be close to home, what will he think? And how will Timir enjoy being on the wrong side of the world with a bunch of propagandized drones? Blyad, what will Pasha say, or does she already know?
As Volk had promised earlier, he found his other three members deep in a game of durak, with Nosorog fuming with a full hand of cards and Grizli chuckling at his diminutive hand. Volk himself had already shed his entire pile of cards and now looked back and forth between the larger two men to see who would cave first.
Volk was also first to see Akula, and the pup’s back went rigid the moment he made eye contact with his leader. Nosorog saw the change in expression and set his cards down, elbowing Grizli to pay attention.
Grizli’s smile changed from irreverent to predatory the moment he saw Akula. “Our glorious fish-fucker returns with work!”
“You won’t like it.” Volk preempted, “My bet is we’re ordered to scrub the shit out of Solomon’s dungeon.”
Nosorog glared down at Volk, “We should treat them like how their partners in the NLD treated Sova. Nails in the back and show them their stomachs. No one cares that they’re here anyway.”
“If only that were an option,” Akula began, pulling up a seat with his men before laying out the folder in front of them. He watched each man look over its contents, watching their faces digest it and contort in different flashes of emotion.
“That’s how the company apologizes for us saving that juche-fucker’s life? By selling us to them for a year?” Volk was first to spout with a surprising snarl. “Fuck that, I’ll take the prison time.”
As Akula had expected, Grizli simply shrugged. “Never thought I’d go so far east. Don’t worry, little pup. We’ll make sure they don’t try and eat you for rations.”
Volk shot the larger Ukrainian a glare, making Grizli laugh briefly. Having already been a conscripted soldier, Volk already understood that neither alternative was good, but one at least let him pretend to be free.
To Akula’s surprise, Nosorog stayed silent, though everyone could see his deep amber eyes scanning the page up and down several times.
“If you’re looking for loopholes, let me know if you find one.” Akula nodded.
This made the Chechen’s scowl deepen, “I don’t see a reason for us to be sent with you…, so why should we?”
“Stay here, kiska, and that Spider will suck you dry before his little underlings dissect you!” Grizli retorted in a mirthless sneer. “He just needs a reason.”
“He needs to be shot.” Nosorog countered, looking back to Akula, “You let him go too easily.”
“Better the Spider you know is trapped in glass than fearing a wasp behind each corner.” Akula began, before unfolding a hand toward the paper in front of them. “But I can always tell Tsezar you’d prefer to stay with Rashadi or be sent back to Kadyrov so they can forget to feed you and arm you again.”
It was a personal note that drew a deep ‘hiss’ from the Chechen, and the cards crumpled in his hands. Volk sat up straight, ready to jump back from the table, while Grizli laid a heavy hand on his comrade’s shoulder. After a moment of painful reflection, Nosorog nodded once, “And we’ll be paid for this…deployment?”
“The company wouldn’t permit this otherwise.” Akula replied, though he honestly didn’t know how much they would receive and how much would just be paid to Wildlife. He had to assume it was a comparable sum to what the Libyan contract equaled out to be, or Orchid would not have come down to oversee the hand-off herself.
“So what are we supposed to be doing, then?” Volk queried, still keeping his posture tense.
“Training, it sounds like.” Akula began, looking each man in the eye. “I’ll check if Pasha knows more before the transport arrives.”
Grizli barked a laugh at that. “Those juche-loving morons couldn’t fight their way out of a brothel! How much can we do in a year?”
Akula gave the massive Ukrainian a provoking glance, “How to shoot, for starters. And maybe how many bastards you leave in your wake.”
Grizli gave a mocking sneer, “Little Minnow misses the free life, I think.”
“Is it just us?” Volk queried. “That’s not enough to train an army.”
“Why not? They worship one man above logic, so as long as they know we’re there because of him, they’ll probably bow to us.” Nosorog countered, setting his cards down. “And if not, well, they already know what it’s like to starve.”
Akula nodded, acknowledging the point he hadn’t considered yet. “Pack what you need, in case one of these idiots decides to be stupid in mid-air. Let’s hope they want to go home as much as the company wants paid.”
Volk was first to stand, now focused on something far more critical than a game of druak. When Nosorog stood, Grizli gave a grunt of protest. “Sit and finish your hand, kiska! I have yet to beat you completely!”
Nosorog shot back something in his native slang as Akula departed, and the team leader finally let himself exhale. They’re on board, or at least as willing as they are able. Let that be enough…and let me be wrong about how much shit this contact will drag us through…
Keeping his body tall and his fists locked so none would see the tides of concern wash over him, Akula then headed for the comms truck. The frigid cabin’s door was still blemished with the toe of Drakon’s boot when last she sat with him, and he couldn’t help but trace his eyes over it as he opened the vehicle. How much would you hate going to North Korea, Liliya? Would you keep Pasha company while we’re in exile?
The soldier guarding the truck stared at Akula in confusion, but did not interrupt him. Much to Akula’s thanks, he recognized the quiet sentry as Gnoo, only to then remember which team the man was on. One look into the taller man’s dark blue eyes showed Akula every ounce of suspicion and mistrust Gnoo regarded him with, though the man did not bar his entry. Saying nothing, Akula entered the comms truck and ensured both the upper and lower hatch locks were sealed. He found it a partial miracle that his combination to the secure safe still worked so he could log onto the secure terminal.
That miracle was then made ten-fold stronger when he at last saw that Pasha was online. “I can only imagine how busy they’ve kept you up there, babchoka.”
“Is it true?” came the slow reply. The hesitation and the curtness in those words instantly snuffed out mch of the joy he’d had by seeing her active online status.
“Is what true?”
“That you stood up for Leonid! That you shot Gregor! That you asked for a fucking re-assignment and took a pay cut to do it! What the hell are you doing?” Her reply came furiously, and Akula could feel the fire in her voice half the world away.
Instinctively, Akula felt his pulse begin to throb and his hand tensed back into a fist. Despite being half his size, Pasha could have the voice of a razor when she was truly angry, and every instance of that cutting tone instantly flooded back into his ears. “Slow down, one at a time! Whoever you’ve been talking with is feeding you horseshit.”
“So you didn’t stand up for Leonid and ignore company orders?” She shot back quickly, and he could tell she was having to stop herself from furiously typing more.
“Tsezar gave me the choice. He gave Leonid the choice, and I doubt the others were so fortunate…” Mikhal responded, ears ringing with gunshots and defiant declarations in a dead night not long past. “He chose to stay with the company. There’s a lot there you don’t know.”
“And that’s supposed to keep him from shooting you in the back? Should I soothe Andre with that?” Pasha shot back almost as fast as he’d responded.
“If I were going to be shot in the back, Timur would’ve done it already! They’ve both had plenty of chances already.” Before she could finish her retort, he continued, “I trust their desire to stay alive, and we do that as a squad.”
“Gregor was on your squad, too! So why did you kill him?”
“I didn’t shoot that fucking Spider, Pasha. I reminded him that I don’t take his orders.” Mikhal countered, feeling his hands now tremble with frustration. “In fact, he almost shot me! And I’m sure that kiska has searched my locker and bed twice since then.”
“Then why not listen to him? He knows things you don’t!”
Just like you do, I know…but you also don’t understand kinship by fire… he wanted to reply with, which was a line he’d used before when introducing Pasha to Liliya. Where his babchoka had seen a rival, he’d seen a jealousy that didn’t make sense until they’d both explained it to him and each other. “Gregor doesn’t trust anyone, and it’s gotten his squadmates killed. There’s nothing Tsezar or I can do to change that. But Leonid, Timir, Fyodor and I have bled together. We drank for Liliya’s last rites…Gregor will never do that, and it’ll get him killed one day. Or promoted like Polina, that bitch.”
“Then why the hell did you take her contract?” Pasha spat out in digital anger.
“Because at least in P’yong’yang, you can visit by train! It was either that or prison, and I won’t lose that time with you!” He noted, trying to be calm and reasonable when he wanted to rip the monitor in half.
“But you are! You’ve not seen your son since he was born! You chose to leave us! And for what? For money?” Pasha replied, the message deleting and retyping itself half a dozen times before it finally came through. The revelation that his pay had been reduced added a whole different level of anger to his reply, but he did his best to keep that part locked away for later use on Orchid herself.
And there it is…. Mikhail sighed, knowing they’d hit the crux of her feelings. “This work gives Andre a future. We both know Wildlife doesn’t pay you what you’re worth, and the sign-on bonus alone was enough for our house’s initial cost.”
“I’m sick of that place, it’s not worth you dying.” Pasha responded with, though much slower this time, making him wonder what she didn’t say.
“Then it’s a good thing I’m about to be a lot closer and out of this place.” Mikhail pointed out, trying to connect some kind of perk for her to see.
“You’re not listening! You never listen.” Pasha started, before another message came in rapid succession. “Meeting, have to go.”
The chill in the comms van dropped to an icy stabbing as her indicator quickly changed to gray and the messenger closed. Akula simply stared at it for what felt like days, before letting himself say “I love you…”
For a minute, the familiar sting of an open-palmed ‘smack’ lit up the back of his head, surfacing from memories of what felt like another life. ‘I warned you, dumbass! As smart as she is, Pasha doesn’t understand service like we do. It’s not something you’re going to teach her, it’s not something I can fucking teach her, either. She’ll either learn it, or she won’t.’
“And what happens when she sees all those smart, sensitive boys who avoided the uniform thanks to status or money?” Akula asked aloud, repeating the words he’d asked Drakon one night while they’d been deployed to Chelyabinsk for training, a thousand kilometers from his new bride.
‘Then she drops your ass, meaning she was never right for you. And if you’re still wondering if that could happen, maybe giving her a ring was a mistake, not matter how good she is at cooking or fucking.’ She’d responded bluntly. ‘We’re the ones who defend those who can’t or won’t do this work, even if you left the sea behind. She needs you. And she always will, even if she doesn’t understand it.’
“I hope you’re right, Liliya…I really do.” he whispered to the frigid air, wondering now if that chill also carried with it the sting of loss creeping up from the dark undertow of two realities now clashing against each other.
*******
Part 2 of the 2nd contract for Akula and his team, which now lets the weight of change hit each man in their own way. Sometimes its a blessing to have no one and nothing depending on you, as this line of work will not care if you do. But that connection also gives a person the will to keeping pushing and fighting beyond most every mortal limit. How will these four adapt to their new roles? Will this new contract be as simple as Orchid alludes to? Soon we shall see!
I hope you all enjoy.
Contract 2, part 1
shadetheraven 
The team has my favorite interactions, though it’s this new (or maybe just quietly brewing) conflict between Mikhail and Pasha that really comes through in this chapter. There are a lot of very complicated, adult issues you go into here: duty, respect, marriage, work, profit. None of them are easy to resolve, especially given the distance – both physical and emotional – between the characters.
I genuinely appreciate that you’re treating their relationship with this level of realism. Neither Mikhail nor Pasha is completely in the right or in the wrong. She’s scared for him, obviously, and that fear leads her to lash out against him and the people he serves with. He’s thinking about the benefits of being part of Wildlife. That means staying stubborn to his comrades and the mission, even at the risk of losing her and their family. The flashback conversation between him and Drakon is even more enlightening. Sure, we want the hero of the story to have their happy ever after, but sometimes that doesn’t work out in the real world.
Thanks for sharing! I’m looking forward to reading more. 🙂
Thank you, Mayumi!
This was a hard chapter to round out, and I could hear as much of myself as I could Akula during that conversation. And I’m so very happy it read well to where a reader could see both their sides and appreciate how Mikhail and Pasha push against each other, as any married couple would. It reminds me of feedback you gave me a while back talking about the human element for the Wildlife crew, and I’m coming to enjoy writing that as much as I am the combat! And you’ll get more of both in this arc, from what they’re telling me so far.
Thank you again for stopping to read and let me know your thoughts!