The Vladivostok Incident

Chapter 10

Andrei Volunteers

They were stuck for the time being. The IFV that had rolled over was in pretty bad shape; although it could've possibly taken the remaining journey to Urgal, it certainly would not have survived another attack. Rex had immediately ordered Andrei and his workers to fix it, but nothing came of that order. Andrei quickly presented Rex with a list of tools they would require and the mercenary group didn't have all of them. Given a vehicle that was unfixable and several injuries, Rex made the decision to stay put.

Camp was set up and roles were assigned. Two small fires were created and shifts were also set up, so that way they could rotate who played watchman and who had the chance to sleep. Shelton and the civilians were not assigned any roles other than to stay out of the way and be quiet. Antoine had regained consciousness and made it through the jokes about wearing a seatbelt with the best grin he could muster. Although he was awake, he was in no condition for guard duty or scouting, and thus remained seated near one of the fires. Then there was Antanas, whose injury was patched up and his ripped slacks were replaced with a pair of military pants.

"We'll be safe so long as they don't bother flying over," Rex said as he planned with his comrades. "I don't want to march us along the path if the Stars and Chinese have heavy scouts. They already know we're in the area, so I'd imagine they'd like to reinforce the roads."

"But we need to get to Urgal," one pressed.

"I know," he said. "But I don't want to risk the entire team being caught. I suppose we could send Lena to get a read and plan to move out once she returns."

"And if she doesn't?" Andrei chimed in.

"If she's not back within forty-eight hours we'll bypass Urgal and take a different route," Rex decided. Andrei didn't bother with hiding how he felt about Rex's decision; the Commandant ignored the expression.

"I'd like to go with her," Andrei requested. Lena's face was shadowed by the rising sun, so he had no way of knowing how she felt personally about it. "I owe her for the previous battle. When the gun jammed, she left behind injured allies to assist me. I have to return the favor."

Rex thought about objecting. He knew that Andrei would most likely add as a distraction to the mission, and knew without a doubt that Lena probably wanted to speak out against him. Yet in the end he merely informed him, "Listen, I'm not here to babysit you. I look out for my men and my men only. You're not under my command. I don't care what you do, just don't put her in danger." He stopped long enough to cast a glance over Andrei's shoulder at Lena. He raised his voice and said, "Alright everyone! Keep comfortable but stay alert! Lena: you and Mr. Tsarev will head towards Urgal. Report back here within forty-eight hours."

Lena did not respond with words; instead she went straight towards preparing a small pack of essentials. Andrei went about to do the same. He was given a large coat to keep him warm, as he couldn't go into town dressed in his dirty, blood stained coveralls. He had been in this type of mission before as a soldier, so he knew that he needed to pack only the bare minimum. Yet he had no idea what Lena had packed and doubted she would be the first to start a conversation. Despite her unapproachable attitude, Andrei made an attempt at conversation with her.

"I hope you don't mind me tagging along," was his opening statement. She glanced at him only for a brief moment. "Since you're in charge, I thought I'd ask what you'd like me to bring."

"I've taken care of everything," she answered. A large purse like bag was presented to him. When he stared oddly at her, she said, "I need you to double check this. I have to change my clothes."

The bag was shoved into his arms and she disappeared towards one of the IFVs. Before Andrei could ask her anymore questions, he was flanked by Petras and Shelton. They ended up pushing him around and forming a huddle. Andrei passed quick looks between the two of them. If their grins where any indication, he knew where the conversation was headed.

"Old man," Petras started only to quickly correct himself. "Andrei, buddy. I didn't know you had it in you."

His left brow raised in confusion. "What?" he asked.

"You jumped on that opportunity like you saw it coming," Shelton added. "Don't act like you didn't see the opening. You have to let us know."

"Know what?"

Both of his workers grumbled loudly. "You're going to be spending two days alone with her," Shelton explained. He pointed at Petras and then himself. "We haven't seen what lies underneath all those layers of clothing. You, my good man, have the best chance yet. Report back to us."

Petras nodded enthusiastically, which caused Andrei to sigh, "You two are like a bunch of horny teenagers. Don't you ever think about anything else?"

"Here we go again," Petras groaned and shrugged as he detached himself from the huddle.

Shelton went to respond but Lena's shout of, "Let's go!" broke Andrei away from him. She had taken away the military jacket and pants. Now she wore a wool coat, which covered her blouse, a long skirt, and a pair of mukluks. She didn't bother to see if Andrei was following, and he ended up dumbfounded and far behind. A quick jog fixed that, and Andrei fell in about one pace behind Lena. He kept hold on the purse like he was holding a teddy bear and she failed to notice he still had it. He looked more like dog yapping at her heels than a fellow mercenary and she must have been aware of it.

Camp was still visible but in the distance when she finally gave him orders. "We're going to travel alongside the road once we reach it," she said. He jogged to walk alongside her; she noticed the purse and snatched it out of his hands. "We'll pose as a traveling couple."

"Without a car?" he joked. She didn't laugh.

"There is an operative in Urgal we'll meet up with. He'll provide us with a detailed picture of the enemy opposition and we'll be able to act accordingly," she explained.

"How long will this trip take?" Andrei asked.

"Well, neither of us got much sleep last night," she said. "So while it will only take us part of the day to reach Urgal, I hope we can get a room there. If that's alright with you."

"Huh? That's okay. Sleep sounds great right now, actually," he laughed. Andrei figured out quickly she didn't want to talk to him. She led him on a zigzag path towards the road and he wanted to question her sense of direction. But when his boots touched pavement he felt a little bit more confidence in her.

He hated silence. To him, there was always something to discuss, something to learn about. When no one made a noise it signaled that something was bothering them, that they were withdrawn because of a deep emotional injury they were afraid to admit. Well, that's what he had always assumed. He could have easily said, "Tell me about yourself." But upon reflection, he decided it was too cliché for him to say with confidence. It would have been no problem to ask, "How was your day?" But he already knew that her day was complete s**t.

As for Lena, she was so used to traveling alone she had completely forgot he trailed behind her. Even if she had remembered, she wouldn't see why it would be necessary to start a conversation. To begin with, she barely knew Andrei and didn't want him to follow her; she didn't understand his intentions in the slightest. He seemed like an admirable man and had fought well with the others, but she had overheard him question their motives, which naturally offset the positive first impressions.

So conversation between the two of them simply did not exist for quite a long while. They had been walking in an uncomfortable silence since camp was well out of sight. It was forty five minutes before a word was uttered.

They had reached one of the few intersections along the main road. The private disappeared somewhere towards a small military post and factory. The shoulder of the road was dirt until it reached a small hill which disappeared into the forest. On the other side of the slope was a slightly larger incline. The sun shine was blocked by trees which casted long shadows.

Twenty meters past the private road, a follower nipped at their heels. The yap of a dog caused Andrei, who by that time was quite a bit behind Lena, to turn around and see what the noise was. It was a large Akita canine rushing down the dirty road towards him. At first Andrei was ready to panic and took a few hurried steps backwards as he formulated a plan to escape the approaching animal. Lena heard the noise and glanced over her shoulder. When the dog got closer, it started to look familiar. The barking animal stopped in front of Andrei, sat down, and yapped a bit more.

"Ah, it's that dog Shelton and Petras always played with," Andrei said with a small sigh. He knelt down next to it and slowly patted its head. "What's your name again little fella?"

"Where did that dog go?" an American shouted from just around the bend. Andrei eased himself back to his feet.

"You need to hide," Lena suddenly ordered.

"What?" Andrei asked. "Why? And where?"

"Go into the forest," she demanded. She shoved him violently off the road. He stumbled and slipped down the small incline that lined the path.

"Come on, Sinclair, it's just a stupid dog!" another voice screamed. "We have to get to Vladivostok sooner rather than later!"

A blue uniformed teen appeared around the corner and yelled back, "Just give me a second!" He then looked forward and was able to see a woman as she nearly stumbled off the road. Fortunately she was able to maintain her balance and carefully greeted the dog. He trotted up to her and smiled, "I'm sorry about the dog, Miss. He's a stray I picked up a few towns back. He's really well trained, though."

"It's fine," she smiled at him. His green eyes gazed back up at her brown ones. It was hard for her to keep smiling when he grinned back. There was dried blood speckled over his cheeks and the left side of his head was almost completely bandaged. It didn't hide distract from his handsome boyish features; in fact, he looked familiar.

"Where about are you traveling, Miss?" he asked. "You shouldn't be stuck on the road all alone. You almost fell!"

"To Urgal," she answered honestly. From over his shoulder, she caught a glimpse of several military vehicles stroll onto the roadway.

His face brightened. "We could take you!" he said cheerfully.

"No. But thank you kindly for the offer."

His head twitched to the side; he stared curiously at her. The first vehicle stopped and out jumped a medic who jogged to the teen. "Dammit Sinclair do you always have to run off like that?" the medic demanded. He looked up and saw Lena; he didn't even acknowledge her and instead continued to lecture, "You ran off to find a dog? Looks like you're picking up women to me." Lena and Dmitri both looked down and realized the dog had disappeared again. The rest of the men in the jeep overheard and laughed.

"Why don't you share for once?" another soldier shouted.

"Hell yeah," someone added. "What's a man got to do to get his d**k wet these days?"

The deep woof the Akita shut them up temporally. It was impossible for Lena to stop Dmitri. He moved forward, climbed the small incline and leaned over. About two meters down a small hill, the fluffy and husky dog was licking the face of Andrei. Olsen followed Dmitri and raised a brow. Olsen asked, "Sir? What the hell are you doing down there?"

Andrei let out a nervous laugh, "I fell."

"Just leave him, Olsen," one of the soldiers stressed. They looked back. While they were busy observing the dog, the rest of their team had exited the vehicle and were moving towards Lena. "There's a babe right here and you're worried about the guy?"

She held her ground well. When they approached, she didn't show any signs of panic or worry. Even as one soldier had the gall to grab her, she never made a sound. Instead, she did her best to understand the situation. The soldiers were not under the influence and didn't seem to pose any real threat. She never felt as though their intentions were negative.

"Knock it off!" Olsen demanded. He moved away from Andrei and got involved with the mess. Dmitri ignored the dog and followed Olsen. The soldier that had grabbed Lena threw up his hands and backed away. She straightened herself out once she was free.

"Whoa, Olsen, we're just playing," one soldier defended.

"Yeah, we wouldn't harm a pretty lady."

"We should take her with us," the soldier closest to Lena suggested. "She might warm up to us."

"No," Olsen demanded. It was met with moans and complaints. "Get your dog and let's go Sinclair."

Just like that the most interesting situation of the day passed. The soldiers muttered their apologies to Lena and returned to their vehicles. Dmitri captured the dog and also returned. It took Lena and Andrei both a few seconds to completely recover. They stayed on the side of the road until the military vehicles were long gone, and the only evidence of them ever existing was a dirty Andrei and tire marks just on the road's shoulder. Andrei was very tired and his leg slightly jarred from his tumble; he would have easily stayed right there and slept if Lena hadn't started moving first.

Now he had the perfect conversation topic. "You handled yourself well back there," he complimented once they had started walking. She looked at him only long enough to catch a very excited grin on his face. "I can see why Rex trusts you on these missions. Do you have experience as a soldier?"

"No," she answered. "I hate soldiers."

"Does that include former soldiers?" Andrei said with a wide smile.

"What was your position in the factory?" she suddenly asked. It was off topic, but if she was willing to talk he would certainly oblige.

"I was the manager," he said. "While there were many people older than me, none of them had the leadership skills, I suppose."

"Was there a diverse group?"

Andrei wasn't a complete i***t; he listened to how she spoke and watched her body language closely. He was proud of the fact he could read just about anyone, but he couldn't quite figure her out immediately. Not that he minded. He enjoyed getting to know someone legitimately. "Oh, yeah," said Andrei. "Petras was only eleven when he started working with us. One of our oldest workers was old enough to be my grandpa."

"Are there… a lot of on the job injuries?" The way she asked made him pause. There was the slightest hesitation, which made it sound as though it was painful for her to speak. Andrei's step faltered for a moment and she noticed. "If it's not something you want to talk about –"

"No!" he quickly interrupted. "I don't mind. There have been several injuries as long as I've been working there. The worst was when a jeep fell on three men. The jacks we used were outdated and shouldn't have been used, but it was all we had. All three men died. I will give that bureaucrat Fedorov credit for one thing: he makes sure we have the most update equipment available. But, to be honest, no matter how hard we try, the factory isn't a safe place."

"I see."

Again they fell into silence. Over time Andrei started to miss her voice, even though he only had a small taste of it. There was a slight accent that came through when she asked questions. Andrei hadn't been outside of Eurasia, and even within Eurasia he only briefly left Russia, so he wasn't familiar with many accents. Despite that, he thought it was a cute quirk. When he recalled Antoine's story of being Lunarian, he thought perhaps she was, too. He started the conversation up again.

"So what's your relationship with Antoine?" he asked. She shot a glare over her shoulder which stopped him dead in his tracks. "Too personal too early?" he joked with a small laugh.

"You could just ask him yourself," she said as she continued her quick stride. "He's very fond of you and your group. Especially that Shelton. He likens him a lot to Deacon."

The way she said the final name made him jump a bit. He had been in love once and he knew that a loved one's name was always spoken a certain way. He just had to tease her. "Oh?" he said with a sly smile and a playful voice. "Who's this Deacon? Is he some kind of boyfriend? Does Antoine know about him?"

"He was my husband," she answered robotically.

His smile fell into a frown and he mumbled, "I'm sorry."

After that it was simply too awkward to try and make conversation. It was probably a good thing; after walking for so long, Andrei could feel that his breath was getting shallow. He didn't want to appear out of shape. Sure, he had muscles and could lift quite a bit, but his cardiovascular strength wasn't at its prime. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a small voice shouted at him and warned him of his age. He was too old to be hiking for four hours on no sleep. Despite the warning, he shut up the voice and focused on keeping up with Lena's pace.

Fortunately, a civilian noticed the two of them as he drove by and offered a ride. "You're clearly not from around here," he said to Lena. "And your husband doesn't seem to understand much of this area either. Who would travel all the way to Urgal without a car? There are a lot of anarchist groups out here and Stars who wouldn't mind a pretty lady like you. I'll give you a ride into town, no charge!" Neither one turned down the offer; they were ecstatic to get into the warm, beaten up car and rest their tired bodies.

Tired, Andrei let out a loud yawn. The warmth numbed his body and made him aware of how sore he was. It comforted him and his eyes slowly slid shut. He welcomed sleep, even though as a former soldier he knew sleeping in a stranger's car with only a woman as protection was stupid. Despite that, he felt safe around her, even if she was difficult to have a conversation with.

For some reason, Lena expected him to snore, but was pleasantly surprised when he barely made any noise at all. She observed him for a moment; he looked peaceful when he slept, but didn't everyone? Sleep, the perfect place to escape reality. She would admit to herself he was handsome and maybe a bit charming, but she couldn't find much for redeemable qualities. Besides, he was a former Eurasian soldier, so she had already decided she didn't want to get to know him. Only if he betrayed his former allegiance would they ever have a chance at becoming friends, but if he ever turned his back on something he had fought for, she would give up entirely.

"How long have you two been together?" the driver suddenly asked. She caught his eyes in the rear view mirror and tried not to sneer. Was it really his business?

She stumbled out an answer. "We were just married recently," she managed to lie. Her fake smile was very convincing.

"Ah," the driver said. "That explains why you seem so uncomfortable around him. It's alright, you can sleep. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you cuddled. It's cold outside."

"No, it's alright," she blushed. She may have no qualms braving certain situations, but acting as a couple was starting to bother her. How would they be forced to act in town? Though, sleep did sound good. Her body was barely able to keep itself moving. To stay up much longer would be betraying her health. Exhausted, hungry and just damn tired, she allowed her eyes to shut. There was no plan to actually sleep, but when her eyelids were secured she was unable to fend off slumber.

They arrived in Urgal sometime afternoon. The driver woke up them up in the middle of town and asked, "Where in particular are you going?"

"Conrad's Inn," Lena answered. Andrei was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes, but Lena was wide awake and prepared to move forward. A few more lines of dialogue where spoken between Lena and the driver, but Andrei didn't hear it. He tried to remember where they were and who he was with. By the time everything clicked, the driver had let them out and he was standing in front of a rather shabby building.

He stared oddly at the inn for a few long seconds. The sign was faded, the door was rusted, and the ground outside was dirty and littered with trash and homeless people. Andrei's green orbs caught the shadowed, droopy eyes of a young thug rested near the entrance. The gaze of the young man disturbed Andrei. It reminded him of Shelton when they had first met. Within the gleam of the thug's eye was indifference; he had seen all there was to see and wasn't afraid of much, it anything at all. Andrei frowned as he wondered whether the thug at the entrance would have the same opportunity to change as Shelton did.

Apparently the thug got tired of the staring contest, because he got up and left away from the inn. Lena was tired of Andrei gawking, too, as she purposefully bumped into him and grabbed his elbow. "Try not to bring us any unwanted attention," she commanded. Her hand slipped down his arm and grabbed his hand. Instantly she was transformed into a brilliant actress. She giggled warmly at him and pulled him towards the inn like an overexcited young lover. He had no choice but to mindlessly follow her lead into the inn.

The inside was a tad nicer than the rundown outside. The wooden floors were polished, the lights were dim but provided a warm glow, and the décor helped set a rich atmosphere. Andrei was caught gawking again, so Lena pushed him towards the front desk rather harshly. The man behind the desk just stared oddly at him for a few moments before he asked, "Can I help you?"

"Uh," Andrei stuttered.

"Ask for a room," Lena whispered into his ear.

"I'd like a room, please," Andrei mechanically said. Lena nudged him; he corrected himself, "For me and my wife."

The man behind the desk reached for a sign in book under the counter. He handed it to Andrei who started scribbling in his name; he stopped half way and passed a look over his shoulder, curious if he was doing the right thing. Lena didn't understand at first, so the two held eye contact for a good couple of seconds. When she finally realized he was trying to figure out what to write, she looked down at the sign in book and saw that it said, "Tsarev, Andrei; Lena." She nodded at him. There was no reason to suspect that anyone was looking for Andrei, and certainly traveling with someone named Lena. With his signature Andrei finished the deal.

A key was handed to him and the man said, "That will be seventy-five marks."

"Whoa, seventy-five marks!" Andrei protested as he snatched the key. He shoved his other hand into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. "What the hell kind of con are you folks running? Seventy-five for this dump? I don't believe it!"

Andrei didn't actually have seventy-five marks. In fact, he was flat broke and had just ten marks left in his wallet. As he continued to complain and refused to pay, Lena produced one hundred marks from the purse and handed it to the man behind the counter.

"I'm really sorry!" she apologized in the most adorable voice she could muster. "He's just being cranky because he's frustrated, am I right, dear?" She pushed Andrei away from the counter a tad and kept pushing him towards the stairs. "Keep the change as an apology!"

"What?" Andrei asked. "That's a whole twenty-five marks!"

Lena remained silent as she continued to lead him up the stairs and towards the main hallway. Once they were a flight above the lobby, she grabbed him by his collar and slammed his body against the wall of the hallway. He was a bit shocked at how easy it was for her to overpower him and the sudden physical contact. He had no intention of resisting and he let her know when he replaced his surprised expression with a smirk. Still, she did not move and only deepened her glare towards him.

"I told you not to cause unwanted attention," she seethed. He titled his head at her but never stopped smiling. She was about the same height as he, though his knees had buckled slightly; their noses almost touched.

"Any sensible working man would've caused a fuss over those prices," he argued calmly. "I don't know where you came from, Missy, but around here in Russia seventy marks is enough to buy a mansion."

"You aren't in Russia," she said. Her grip on the collar of his shirt tightened. "This is the Republic of Eurasia, and even then it's occupied by the Chinese. So stick your Russian pride up your ass until this mission is over, got it?"

"Sure thing, ma'am," he yipped and raised his hands up in defeat. She let him go. As he adjusted his collar, she continued to walk down the hallway. She was so angry she didn't think to ask what room they were in, so Andrei had to grab her arm and pull her back soon afterwards. "Room 5B, right here, sweetheart," he joked.

After he fumbled around with the key and unlocked the door, he had to use quite a bit of force to actually open it. Revealed to them was a rather small room with a bed, nightstand, and bathroom just to the right. There was a window, but half of it was boarded up. It appeared as though something had been thrown through it. Andrei ignored everything except the bed; he fell face first onto it and laid there motionless. It felt wonderful to be lying down on a mattress of any kind, even if it wasn't as soft as he had hoped.

When he heard a shuffling noise, he looked up and saw Lena checking under and over every object in the room. He propped himself on his elbow and observed her quietly for a couple of seconds. She felt his eyes on her, so she stopped what she was doing and looked at him.

"What are you doing?" Andrei asked.

"Making sure this room isn't bugged or used by terrorists," she answered.

As she went back to work, Andrei broke out into laughter. She sent him a glare. Holding his gut, he apologized, "I'm sorry!" After more laughter, he managed to continue. "It's just we haven't even seen a bed in God knows how long, and you're worried about that?"

She continued searching. "Since the Chinese occupation, places such as Urgal have become targets for terrorism because of their role in transporting goods."

"Right…" Andrei muttered indifferently.