Eight o'clock. I check the time on my watch as I walk into the waiting lounge in Bartolomej airport, take a seat and look around, not too many people here.

The fact that Stanislav, minister of Law and Defence called me this hastily back to Cryspus while I was preparing essential documents to send back to Parliament in Vitsyetka made me a little nervous and confused. Initially, I tried to get in touch with the Parlement. Unfortunately, no one answered my question directly, and even Stanislav just gave me a vague answer which made me a bit upset. I only knew that he needed me to take someone's place in the VSIU force, but he doesn't tell me the name of that force.

I thought this was someone's joke, but when I saw the Royal seal, the National Assembly and Stanislav's signature, I knew it wasn't a joke when it came to the Royal seal. I couldn't help but sigh and hope the baldy old explaining the whole thing when I got back. I look around again with tired eyes as there weren't many people in the waiting lounge.

Everything was normal until I felt someone come up and sit behind me:

-"Anxious?" It was a male voice, he said wearily, but somewhat filled with cheerfulness.

-"Lots of documents but no more time as the Parliament wants me to go back." I said in an upset tone.

The man chuckles:

-"Well, forgive them. Currently, they are short on task force management."

-"But not someone who works in Ostria for months?"

-"I'm not the Parliament."

-"Is it so difficult to find someone capable of leading a special task force in this country?" I mutter.

-"If you don't come back, you won't be able to stay in Ostria. The authority has kept an eye on the apples as the ripest one would fall off the tree. You have to be careful," the man said low and unhurried.

-"..."

-"Stanislav is not like Jakub. He knows what he's doing. You have to trust him."

-"I don't care about Jakub nor the right wings," my voice filled a bit upset as I leaned back on the chair.

-"I know you don't care about politics, but the fate of this country is in your hand, Savannah. Twenty-five years contributing to a country that you never imagine nor care about, you are not going to waste it?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

-"Ariste sank into an absurd civil war and fell into the hands of fools. I left the country because I don't want to get beaten and dragged around like a dog by the radicals."

-"Then don't waste it, what you have done for this country. The king and the Parliament would be obliged."

I say nothing and stand up, walk to the gate. Before I go, I turn around to see the man I was talking with, but he's gone.

-"Wojtek...," I take a deep breath and walk away, back to Cryspus.

*

I walk into the meeting room as a woman in the black suit is waiting for me. She looks pretty young, somewhere around 20 or 25, with tidy blonde hair. She looks at me with predatory eyes. As someone who has worked in the Parliament for twenty-five years, I know she is testing me, being seen by despicable people with lustful and enchanting eyes as this is not something too new to me. I walk over and stand in front of her, looking at her with a cruel look. As I expected, I could sense fear in her eyes as she tries to hide it, she gives me the clamp folder as I sit down and open, take a look at it. One-eight-one? What is this for a task force group? Did Stanislav fool me or what?

-"This is the task force group called 181 or Yonar," the woman said in a neutral, calm voice

I said nothing as I keep looking:

-"This task force has 14 members. Four attackers, four defenders, two medics, two hackers and two snipers."

-"Only fourteen?" I was surprised.

-"Yes, ma'am."

I closed and handed the clamp folder back to the woman:

-"I didn't catch your name."

-"Ma'am, my name is Illina Lisa."

-"Savannah Alcaraz. Ariste."

Illina nods as she walks over and turns the laptop, connects it to the beamer.

Illina: "The Ostrian authority had built military barracks near Cryspus border, whose purpose was probably to seize the border inhabitants."

I slowly nod as Illina continues:

Illina: "The barracks are set up in the less populated agricultural areas of our country and have almost no community in their country, conceivably this is to avoid attracting media recognition for a long time."

-"Which Ostrian special force is that?"

Illina: "According to information from our country's spies, it is presumably a special commando or intelligence force," she replied fluently.

I take a deep breath and think for a long time, then look back at the beamer:

-"How many people have they kidnapped?"

Illina: "Up to now, perhaps no one. Please take a look at this photo."

Illina said as she shows me a picture of the same area, but without the barracks, although it's nearly impossible to notice:

Illina: "This is the picture taken at 3 pm two days ago. As you could see, there is no sign of the commando force."

I nod and think for a moment. The tension seems to increase as soon as I notice Illina's neutral face was gone, she was scared:

-"How are the members of the 181?"

Illina: "They are all in status 5, which means they can go for a mission."

I lean back on the chair and close my eyes. I fucking hate Stanislav, he doesn't tell me anything about this and forces me to make a difficult choice on the first day being the director of a group with only fourteen people that could start a war and make me went absurd. Wait there, cunt, and I'll take my revenge:

-"Gather the 181 immediately," I said in a sharp voice.

Illina: "Yes, ma'am!" She said as she left the room immediately.