Novels2Search

06

A Young Girl’s Outer Heaven

06

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Commissioned by Aigloss.

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“What is this?” I asked, holding up the clothes Visha had brought for me.

“Ehehehe~! You said we needed new uniforms, so the officers got together and decided on a couple of new designs, for different situations. Then, we spoke with our local contacts and they put us in touch with a local textile mill. From there, it was just a matter of pulling the records for everyone’s measurements.”

“And you just have that on file?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as I pulled on the light, white linen button down shirt.

“Mm! It’s in the paperwork we bring with the unit everywhere we go. Weiss and I also have photos of every document saved to our computation orbs, so we can reproduce them if needed. We left in a rush and needed to pack light, so we left the physical copies, but were able to retrieve the photos,” Visha explained with a smile. “So? How does it feel?”

I finished pulling up the shorts and tucking the shirt in, before fastening the belt at my waist. Twisting this way and that, I took a moment to adjust the shirt for comfort. The uniform she had brought me consisted of a button down white outer shirt, one of my usual white undershirts, a pair of khaki shorts that came down to mid-thigh, my socks, and a new set of shorter boots as opposed to the taller jackboots we wore with our battle dress. They looked more like modern lace up work boots, in fact. “It’s nice. It breathes well. What about the boots? These are new.”

“Good!” Visha nodded. “As for the boots, I remember you complaining about the tall boots, so we’re testing these. We’ve all got them! They’re much easier to get in and out of.”

“Going to have to break them in,” I muttered, testing their weight and the way they bent. They were a bit stiff, but I could live with it for a while.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Visha grinned, and I suspected she hadn’t forgotten at all actually, as she bent down and retrieved something from the bag she had brought containing several copies of the outfit she had laid out for me this morning. “Here you go, ma’am!”

I took the offered hat and sent her a deadpan look. Deciding to be a good sport, and because reacting any other way would give her the satisfaction of seeing me annoyed, I slipped the hat over my blonde hair and turned to look at myself in the full length mirror. Huh. I’ll be. That isn’t bad, actually. Even the ‘cowboy hat’ fits. It looks like a variant on a British uniform I vaguely recall from… South Africa? The Boer war?

“So, I take it that these are everyday uniforms?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Visha nodded. “We’ve commissioned several different types and are waiting for them to come in. Jungle camouflage and all black battle dress uniforms first, then a new parade uniform.”

“And just how are we going to pay for these?” I asked, turning from the mirror and meeting her eye, raising an eyebrow.

“Ah, we actually have the budget for it. Things will be a bit tight, but we can manage for a bit. Especially once we start taking on more missions,” Visha explained. “Things here are so much less expensive than in the Empire. I think that when you budgeted, you did so with Imperial prices in mind.”

Thinking it over for a moment, I nodded. “I may have.”

Making my way over to the small table in the corner of the room, I took a seat. Visha took our breakfast plates off the tray in the middle, then took a moment to pour us each a cup of coffee, before taking the seat opposite me. Taking a sip of my coffee, I sighed in satisfaction at the taste of a very fresh roast before digging into my food—sausage, bacon, eggs, and a couple of muffins. We’re all going to get spoiled and fat if we have food this good every day.

“Thank you, Visha. What’s on the agenda for today?”

“A member of the squad sent on reconnaissance came in about 0500 this morning with a report. The officer on overnight duty sent him off to the mess to get breakfast and forwarded the request to debrief him at 0700 when I reported in for shift change. Some information came in last night about the Carniceros, from the harbormaster. The remaining lieutenants and their men are moving their cargo in tonight or tomorrow and planning to leave by ship to sail to Sao Paulo.”

“Human cargo,” I spat, and Visha nodded.

Briefly, I considered going in myself to put a stop to it, before I realized that there were other uses for my time. It’s funny. I couldn’t wait to get into a position to delegate things, to sit in the rear safe and sound, pushing papers around while others risked their lives. Now, my first instinct is to rush in myself with the rest of the men behind me. The idea of not going almost feels wrong. Ah, irony. Besides, I can’t allow myself to get distracted by the remnants of a human trafficking ring when we could have actionable intel on our comrades to the southeast.

“Put a squad on it. Wait for them to shove off, then take them. Secure the hostages, then sweep the ship. If they resist, kill them. If not, capture and interrogate them. I want to confirm whether this is all of them or not.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Visha acknowledged, in between bites. She took a sip from her own cup, before adding, “Also, we’ve got a lead on getting that plane you requested. With the war over, the Americans have begun offering to sell off their stock of aircraft to other nations. Governor Vasquez heard about this through his connections and wants to purchase a couple for the state of Para.”

“You mean for us,” I interpreted, and Visha nodded. “Do we have pilots?”

“Ah, about that…” she hemmed. “He wanted to meet with you over lunch today. I got the impression that he has a pilot in mind, but that it was a personal matter.”

“Alright. Contact him and let him know we’ll be there. We need an aircraft.”

We finished up breakfast quickly after that and I made my way to the briefing room, while Visha quickly took the dishes down to the mess and returned with the man who had been assigned to the recon mission. Lt. Col. Weiss started the debrief as soon as he entered. “What have you got for us?”

“Sir, ma’am, recon photos of Sao Domingos. May I?” he asked, and I nodded and gestured for him to proceed. A moment later, a hologram sprang up above the table we sat around. We had terrain maps of the surrounding land and aerial photos of the village itself, along with equipment and ‘soldiers,’ if the rabble in the photos could be called that.

“As you can see, they’ve taken over the town. The locals are all in hiding, or evacuated to other towns nearby. Those that stayed behind have it rough. Exactly what we’ve seen in the past from communist occupied towns and villages.” Meaning that the army were stealing food, supplies, and whatever else they liked from their ‘hosts,’ beating and/or killing the men, and raping the women all while forcing the villagers to quarter them. “They have a full battalion of tanks, a company of T-34s, twenty towed 76mm artillery pieces—”

Where are they getting all of these men?! The tanks, I understand. The Russy made them in bulk. I understand being dissatisfied with one’s government—that is the natural state of affairs, after all. But surely there can’t be that many people here willing to convert to the death cult of communism! They must be instituting some form of forced recruitment. The same tactics we saw the Russy use.

Finally, the debrief ended and we dismissed the man for the day, but told him to stick around so we could send orders back with him. Once he was out of the room, Weiss and the rest of my officers turned to me. I hummed thoughtfully as I considered what we had been told so far. Eventually, I asked, “Any word from our team in Santa Maria?”

“None yet,” Weiss shook his head.

“Alright. Weiss, begin planning an assault but leave enough men for a hypothetical second, simultaneous assault on Santa Maria. As soon as we have what we need, I want to drive them out.”

“Yes, colonel.”

“Unless there’s anything else…?” I paused and everyone shook their heads. “Dismissed.”

With that, I left and made my way to my office, where I found a pile of paperwork an inch thick waiting on me. Taking a seat, I pulled the top form off the stack and got to work.

Expense request for fund disbursement and invoice for uniforms. Everything looks in order. Approved…

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I hummed quietly to myself as Visha and I were led not to the dining room, but to a shaded pavilion in the governor’s estate with a ceiling fan going above us. Waiting for us were the governor and a young woman, only a few years older than Tanya—than myself, rather. She was slim and short, with dark hair, a deep tan, and light brown eyes. Very cute, really.

They looked up as we approached, the girl sizing myself and Visha up and smiling. “Colonel von Degurechaff, Captain Serebryakov, welcome,” the man greeted us with a smile as we were seated.

“Governor Vasquez,” I sent the man a pleasant nod as the attendant began pouring cups of coffee. As was my habit, I cast a poison detection formula, but found nothing. Not that I truly suspected anything would happen, given that I’d seen several of my men posted here since entering, but it didn’t hurt to be thorough. “How are you today?”

“I am well, thank you for asking. Please, allow me to introduce my granddaughter, Edwina Vasquez. Edwina, these are Col. Tanya von Degurechaff and her adjutant, Capt. Viktoriya Serebryakov.”

“Pleasure to meet you!” the girl beamed, holding out her hand and shaking mine, then Visha.

“Just Visha is fine,” the blonde at my side smiled.

“So, you’re the one who’s going to get me my aeroplane?”

Visha and I shared a confused look, before turning to the governor. The man chuckled. “Yes, that. You see, young Edwina here is a fair hand at all things aeronautics. A bit of an obsession, really, thanks to her father,” he sighed, while the girl grinned wider. “She wants to fly and make herself useful, you need a pilot. Edwina is the best pilot and mechanic I know. So long as you’re not expecting anti-air fire, having her work with your company shouldn’t pose an issue.”

“Not expecting AA, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t happen,” I pointed out. I considered the girl for a moment as I thought it over. I wasn’t going to turn her away because of her age or sex—that would be hypocritical. So long as she knew what she was doing and could reach all of the flight controls, I didn’t have an issue giving the governor’s granddaughter a job, if that’s what she wanted. But that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t test her. “How much experience do you have flying? How many hours have you logged?”

“Hmm, well~,” she smiled, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table, “my father has a small business running secure, private charter flights for government officials like grandfather. Most recently, he purchased a DC-3 and we converted it into a luxury plane. I’ve been flying since I was big enough to sit in his lap and hold the yoke. When I could reach the pedals, papa let me do everything from takeoff to landing.” She laughed and added, “He usually naps on these flights now.”

“What types of aircraft have you flown?”

“Everything I could get my hands on! I work on them, too. We do all of our own maintenance and modifications in house.”

“I would like to hire you, however, we don’t yet have anything for you to fly,” I shook my head.

“Yes, about that,” the governor sat up a bit straighter in his seat. “I’ll be sending some of my people up to the States to purchase some of their surplus, on behalf of Brasa. That they’re specifically for the state of Para and our esteemed el presidente will never see a single one, except perhaps flying above him, aren’t details the Americans will care about.”

“Of course,” I agreed with a shark’s smile.

“I would like you to handle this for me, Colonel. A small contingent of your men. However many you feel are necessary. Both to safeguard the money and for Edwina’s protection.” I raised an eyebrow and he looked a bit sheepish. “I realize what I’m asking. If you would do this as a favor to me, I would be very grateful.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

He was asking us—me, specifically—to babysit his granddaughter. It was far, far below what you would ask someone of my rank to do—at least, in an official capacity. As a favor for a friend, however? It was reasonable.

As for what we were getting out of it… A plane capable of transporting the 203rd and a pilot. We could begin long range operations almost immediately. Not to mention, fast air support. Depending on what was purchased, we could modify it just as the airmen of the Vietnam era did with their bombers and cargo planes.

“Please, think nothing of it. I would be happy to do this for a friend,” I smiled. “In fact, please call me Tanya in private.”

The man laughed. “Then I insist you call me Pedro.”

“Now, when were you looking to have this done?” I asked.

“As soon as feasibly possible. We want to get there before the communists convince presidente Vargas to go purchase some, so they can use them to terrorize the rest of the country. I wasn’t sure where you stood on being able to spare the manpower, so I was hoping we could have something hammered out and go within the next month.”

Picking up my coffee, I leaned back in my chair and sipped as I thought. “Visha, anything outstanding that can’t wait for a week?”

“Just Sao Domingos and Santa Maria,” she shook her head. “But without word on Santa Maria…”

“Right,” I murmured.

That complicated matters. I would very much like to be there for the mission to take out those two thorns in our side. On the other hand, having air support for both of those missions would be fantastic.

But if I were in America, I could potentially place an international call to the Empire and make contact with Col. Ugar. See how things are going. Tell him to start sending men, along with the families of those already here, which would further solidify the men’s loyalty and boost their morale. So… divide and conquer. Suppose I leave enough in reserve here for both towns, to guard the island, and to guard the governor. The trip to America shouldn’t take more than a single squadron. No, in fact, I think I can narrow it down further. I’ve yet to fully test my new limits, but I think that I should be able to handle it myself. Bring Visha along for an extra set of eyes and hands, just in case—and someone visibly in uniform. A captain should be of sufficient visible rank for this.

“Those new uniforms. Do you have yours? The dress uniform, specifically.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Visha nodded. “We had test models made for all of the officers.”

“How many people are you sending?” I asked, looking to Pedro.

It was Edwina who answered, however. “Seven pilots, including myself and father. However, father will be flying his own plane back, so really just six of us to bring new aeroplanes, along with two crewmen and mechanics each, just to go over everything thoroughly.”

“And the money?”

“Cash. Five million American dollars,” Pedro supplied.

I whistled quietly. That would be the equivalent of about seventy-five million dollars in my original world, or nearly seven and a half billion yen. It was a not insignificant amount of cash to have on hand. “Are you sure you want to transport that much in cash?”

“That is why I want you there.”

Frowning, I asked, “What makes you so certain that I wouldn’t simply take the money and run? I am an aerial mage. My record speaks for itself. I am one of, if not the strongest aerial mage in the world—and certainly the one with the highest confirmed kill count to date. If I wanted to take it, there isn’t a force in this country that could stop me.”

“And that is why you are the best choice. Because you’re willing to point out that even you are not above suspicion with that much money on the line.” Leaning back in his chair, the man crossed his arms over his chest and grinned. “No, colonel, I believe I have your measure. You are a soldier and a businesswoman. A consummate professional. You value your personal integrity and code of honor too much to throw them away for money. You are the sort of person who makes a deal and sticks with it. You wouldn’t sacrifice your men and their families for short term personal gain. You’re too invested in them to simply abandon them and leave them twisting in the breeze.”

I opened my mouth, only to close it as Visha giggled. “He has your number, ma’am.”

Once upon a time, I would have taken the money and run without a moment’s hesitation, and then disappeared to some little hole in the wall half the world away to live the rest of my days in obscurity, never to see war, strife, or bloodshed again. Of course, that was before…

Things have changed, haven’t they? Gone are the days of treating my men as little more than meat shields. They’re people now.

Blowing out a quiet sigh, I nodded. “Very well. Visha, pack our bags. You and I are taking a trip to the States. We leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

“So soon?” Pedro raised an eyebrow.

“Sooner the better. I want to try to get it done before we go pay our communist friends to the east a visit.” Looking to Edwina, I asked, “How long will the flight take?”

The young woman perked up a bit. “I’ve already planned out all of the stops. Most of the trip will be over water as we island hop after our first refueling stop in Georgetown. Bellum to Georgetown, to Barbados, Puerto Rico, Miami, New Orleans, and finally to Pyote Army Air Base in Midland, Texas where they’ve started moving what we want for storage. About forty-four hundred miles one way. We’re looking at between twenty-six and thirty hours, depending on the wind and other factors. We should reach Miami about midnight, where we’ll stop to sleep for eight hours before moving on and we’ll stop in San Juan on the way back for the same. We’re going to have to stop to refuel about every two hours or so, but that shouldn’t take too long. A standard DC-3 has a range of about fifteen hundred miles, fourteen hundred for safety, but we’ve added reserve fuel tanks to ours, so we can get eighteen hundred safely if we need to.”

Looking thoughtful, Visha asked, “Should we pack light?”

“Yes,” I agreed. “Two changes of street clothes, dress uniform, and a spare flight suit for yourself, street clothes and my flight suit for me. SMGs, sidearms, and one grenade each. I suggest bringing a book.”

“Ooh! Do I get a gun?!” Edwina asked, and I sent her a skeptical look.

“Have you ever shot a gun?”

“Only the ones mounted on an old fighter,” she pouted.

I considered it for a moment before shrugging. “We can teach you later, but unless it’s an emergency, I won’t be arming an untrained civilian.”

A thoughtful look crossed Visha’s face before it was replaced, for just a moment, with a sharkish smile. “I’ll bring the playing cards.”

Those men are doomed, I mentally consigned the men traveling with us to their fates.

“Well, I believe that concludes that bit of business. Please, stay for lunch,” he said, waving to one of the servants standing some distance away. “What can you tell me about our mutual ‘friends?’ Any news?”

“As a matter of fact…”

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The next morning, I paused outside the briefing room as I caught a snippet of conversation, on my way to collect Visha to make our way to the airfield on the mainland.

“And you’re sure we shouldn’t tell her?” I heard Weiss asking, which caused my hand to pause partway to the doorknob.

“I’m sure,” Visha answered, sounding amused. “Trust me, she’ll appreciate the surprise.”

“Only if we can get them up and running in time,” the man muttered.

“Trust me, Weiss! Now that we own both a coffee and cocoa farm thanks to our efforts taking down the Carniceros and confiscating their stuff, keeping her nice and mellow should be super easy with our own dedicated supply chain!”

Weiss laughed. “She’s not a child, you know.”

“I know! But she’s really easy to placate. The way to the colonel’s heart is through her stomach! Specifically, good coffee and sweet chocolate. Unless you want a return of bloodthirsty, angry, short-tempered Col. von Degurechaff, living on nothing but k-brot and ersatz coffee?”

“Lord no!” he chuckled in mock horror, and I rolled my eyes.

I wasn’t that bad! They were exaggerating!

“I’ve already got some ideas in mind. I used to melt in a little chocolate with her coffee to sweeten it up and make it less awful. I’d like to try it with cocoa and cream. Maybe some caramel.”

My stomach rumbled and I resisted the urge to drool—that sounded heavenly. Shaking my head, I pushed open the door. “Are we ready?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Visha snapped to attention, looking like she hadn’t just been discussing how to lead me around by my love for coffee and chocolate.

“We’ll be back hopefully inside three days. Weiss, I leave everything in your hands until then. If you get actionable intel, don’t wait for me. Get it done,” I instructed.

“Yes, colonel,” the man nodded.

We said a quick goodbye and gathered our bags—just one each—before heading out to the courtyard and taking to the air. A quick flight across the water and we set down on a runway on the north side of the city, where we found several suited men waiting, many of them drinking coffee and smoking, along with Edwina, wearing a light sun dress. I felt a bit under dressed, wearing my tamer ‘lolita bait’ outfit… but then, that was the point. I was supposed to look like a child for this. Visha was supposed to be the military liaison and security, and a potential retired aerial mage—the obvious danger. I was supposed to go unnoticed, looked over and disregarded as any sort of threat. It would hopefully keep me from standing out.

“You made it!” the girl cheered. “Papa, let’s get moving!”

“Yes, yes,” a bedraggled looking man grumbled, before moving to the stairs leading inside. “Get in and buckle up.”

With that, everyone gathered up their belongings, the smokers dropped their butts on the tarmac, and everyone filed into the plane. Edwina was the last before us, and I took Visha’s bag so the taller blonde could help lift up a wooden ice chest and haul it inside. There were a few seats still left in the front, so I stowed our bags under two chairs by the front door and took a seat beside the window.

Edwina quietly thanked Visha, who took the seat immediately beside me. Standing at the front of the plane, just behind the cabin, Edwina cleared her throat. “For those of you who haven’t flown with me before, please pay attention. Firstly, no smoking! We’re in an aluminum can and there’s no rolling down a window, so God help you if you decide to smoke on my aircraft. Secondly, if you need to use the restroom, there are a couple of buckets in the back. Please respect everyone’s privacy. There are ladies on board, so if one of you decides to peep, I’ll put you outside myself, and that’s if you don’t get shot first. Finally… I know these flights get long and boring, so I brought some snacks and beverages. Don’t drink until you have to puke, or I’m putting you outside. Any questions?”

“Are we there yet?” someone asked from the back, which kicked off a series of groans from the others.

“Smartasses can also take a walk at ten thousand feet!” the girl stuck her tongue out before poking her head into the cabin. “We’re good to go.”

Shortly after that, we were rolling down the runway. Once we had leveled off, Edwina got up from her seat and made her way over to a cabinet I’d noticed mounted across from the door. Opening it up, she fiddled with something and I heard something pop overhead. A glance up turned up overhead speakers, just as I heard a hiss from a radio. A few moments later, after a bit of static, music filled the cabin over the drone of the engines.

Reaching into my bag under my seat, I pulled out a book as Visha turned to Edwina when the girl sat back down and struck up a conversation. I settled in for a long ride.

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“Yes, operator? Haha, sorry for the late hour! But you know how it is. I need to place an international call to Berun and I think the time over there is just past seven now, so…”

I listened with half an ear as Visha followed my instructions and sweet talked the operator into putting our call through. I would have done it myself, but… she was much more persuasive than me, and I had a feeling that an operator would just think it was a prank, given how young I sounded.

Finally, after about five minutes, Visha perked up. “One moment please, Colonel Ugar.”

I accepted the phone she offered me. Putting on my best childish voice, I cried out, “Uncle Max?!”

There was a pause on the other end, before the man hesitantly asked, “Little Tanya?”

“I knew you’d recognize my voice, uncle! How are you? It’s been some time since we last spoke! I’d like to thank you for the presents you sent for me. The toilet paper has been especially useful.”

The man chuckled once, before incredulously asking, “Is that… really you? The reports we’ve heard said that your ship was, ah, lost at sea in a tragic accident.”

“Oh, make no mistake, there was an accident. It was horrible. I nearly died! It was a nasty storm and we heard afterwards that a bunch of American ships went down. But my family and I are all safe and sound in our new home.”

“That all sounds… miraculous,” he murmured. “Was that Viktoriya earlier?”

“Yes, that was big sister Viktoriya,” I confirmed, drawing a giggle from the blonde beside me. I would have ignored it, if not for her hand coming down, pulling off my hat, and running through my hair. I was so completely unprepared for the contact that I jerked away, but she followed. Rolling my eyes, I ignored her petting as I refocused on Ugar and getting the message across. “We found a nice, quiet little place to settle down. There’s lots of space here. Space enough for all of my brothers and sisters and cousins, and their families.”

The man hummed quietly, before letting out an “Ah.” A moment later he asked, “I’m sorry, Tanya. Your extended family is very large and I’m afraid I’ve lost access to all of their records. You wouldn’t happen to have a list of their names and how to contact them, would you? And just where are you calling from, so I can let them know how to reach you?”

“Visha thought ahead and brought a list. We’re calling from Miami, Florida, in the Unified States. Unfortunately, they don’t have international calling yet in our new home. But they do have chocolate, and the coffee beans you love so much!”

“Oh? Where’s that?”

“Brasa. The state of Para, city of Bellum. It’s the largest port on the east coast of South America.”

“And you’re keeping up with your schooling?”

“Ah, well, they don’t actually have the sorts of high quality schools I attended back home, unfortunately. But we’ve made friends with the governor and we’re planning to build one of our own, soon. Then, in a few years, when everything’s settled down maybe we can come back home.”

“I see,” Ugar hummed. “Unfortunately, I don’t know how soon that will be. I think it’s best if you stay there for now. In fact, I may speak with the wife and see if she’d like to take a vacation.”

“I can promise white sand beaches and lots of work. Lots and lots of work. Mostly with your old comrades,” I stressed the last word and he let out a quiet hiss of breath. “We’d be happy to have you. Perhaps you can even convince grandfather Hans to come along?”

“Zettour?” he asked, before sighing. “I’m not sure it would be possible for him to get away right now. As you know, there was some trouble at work and the company is in some legal trouble. Your grandfather is being questioned rather sternly about his actions, and the actions of those under his command—especially a certain fairy. She’s being hailed as a hero here at home, but others say she was quite naughty. Not just for running away, but they think we beat our American competitors to something they were nearly finished working on and this naughty girl took it to demonstrate it against them.”

I blinked at that as several things clicked. Why Ugar seemed shocked to hear from me again, for one. The Americans think we built a nuke. Or a magical nuke? Not sure and it’d be impossible to clarify in code.

“It’s earned us a bit of leeway with them and the others pursuing legal action against them, however. But they are adamant that we not be allowed to make or use more. They’ve offered to settle out of court, but as part of the terms of our settling, they want the people in charge of the project. You remember, uh, uncle Schugel?”

Schugel!!! I flinched at the name. “I remember,” I groaned. His words penetrated and a thrill of fear ran down my spine. “The ah, the Americans… want uncle Schugel?”

“Yes.”

Fuck.

There was really no other response that so completely encapsulated just how I felt about the danger that represented. The last three times Schugel was allowed to play with toys unsupervised and had been given a budget to do so, the man had produced the cursed Elinium Type-95 computation orb, the V-1 hydrogen rocket, and then the Type-97 orbs.

“They’re planning to leave with him and his entire team and take them to America, soon. The day after tomorrow, in fact.”

My stomach dropped into my shoes. As much as I hated Schugel for being absolutely insane, the man was a genius. They say that it’s a fine line that separates madness and genius, but Schugel defies that by happily being both. The Americans wanted Schugel to build them a nuke, which they were apparently close to already and they believed that we beat them to the punch and I had been the one to test the first one, on the ships that had been following us.

And thinking he built a nuke, the first thing they’re going to want is nuclear missiles. They’ll get there eventually on their own, but nuclear missiles are the absolute least of my worries when it comes to that madman! Who knows what sort of horrors he would make with an unlimited American black budget?! I can’t let them have him. One way or another. Fuck!

I started a recording formula as I made my decision. “What else can you tell me?”