Chapter Text
Three months ago:
December 31, 2017
After checking the clock, wiping the glass above the dial with a rag, and then adjusting her handkerchief, Jenna was finally satisfied with the preparations for the festive night - it was only a few hours until midnight, signifying New Year's Eve. All of the Ghosts that were now in the mansion were already gathering in the main guest room, and the Shiny Ones would be arriving there soon. But before that, the husky decided to go to the lower floor - Aya had to prepare Kula's stylish «holiday» clothes.
Jenna often had a way of showing up somewhere just in time, at just the right moment. It was the same now: Aisha was helping Kula adjust and roll up her sleeves when the husky appeared in the doorway.
Kula herself, after a month and a half of training, was even a little unaccustomed to changing her uniform for such stylish clothes - the «top» was «presented» by a tailored longsleeve T-shirt with a pattern printed into the fabric. The drawing was stylized as abstraction: different sizes of triangles of golden, yellowish and ochre colors, closer to the top becoming gray and completely black. The image was completed with individually sewn leggings, narrowed to the bottom. On them from the side to the bottom, as if «askew» also went a pattern - Slavic patterns, most of all similar to khokhloma. Because of the predominance of yellow, ochre and scarlet colors it seemed that Kula was dressed in gold. Needless to say, the Arctic fox herself was delighted.
When Aisha saw Jenna enter, she smiled at first, then turned Kula toward her as if to introduce her and bowed deviously:
- Mrs. Elite, please - your little girl is dressed up, ready for the party.
- She's a real beauty, honey! – Jenna smiled, spreading her paws like hands.
- She is! – Kula said, turning her back so she could check out her outfit from all angles. – I didn't think I'd ever own something like this!
- And now you do, White Heart. – Aya said, crossing her paws on her chest. – Wear it for good. It's a mortal sin to leave you without stylish clothes.
- You're embarrassing me.
- You embarrass us no less, sour cream. – the British woman grinned. – Wear it.
- So for such beauty I don't even know how to thank you. – Kula hesitated, but Jenna calmed her down in her usual easygoing, good-natured way, saying:
- Don't, honey. We're family. And in a family, it's customary to help. And I don't advise you to take on debts you can't repay.
It always disarmed Kula. The husky's tone and her kind smile gave a sea of warmth, so that the white fox just «melted», sometimes wanting to squeeze the whole Elite couple, as they liked to tickle and hug her. But that could wait - the New Year had not yet come, and the whole night was ahead of them.
After putting the tools and some other small things on their respective shelves, Aisha headed to the guest room with Kula and Jenna.
There was indeed already a festive atmosphere there. In the center of the room stood a tall sprawling Christmas tree, decorated with all sorts of ornaments. For the convenience of the guests, the sofas and armchairs were supplemented by several tables that had been brought from the galley and placed in a semicircle around the tree. At one of these tables the Shiny Ones were sitting, talking animatedly about something, as in a scene from the movie «The Magnificent Seven».
Solomon even looked a bit like Robicheaux the Rifleman, only without the cowboy hat. But the Chesapeake Bay retriever had also dressed up for the occasion, replacing the «work» light jacket with a hood and patches on the sleeves with an old-style gray jacket. Solomon and Elias were the most active of the four, while Khaliset, in her bright yellow-red dress and ornamented cape, listened more like an «iron lady». Václav sat quietly, choosing a seat at the corner of the table, and rolling a rare revolver cartridge with gunpowder spilling out of it across the table.
There were also several cooler bags with drinks between the tables. Aisha took a can of tea from one of them and hurried to find BJ. Kula also wanted to take something for herself and join the fun: during the day they had installed speakers (not the big ones for concerts, but small computer speakers), so now the hall was playing music with New Year or Christmas themes. Next to the tree there was also a portable holographic projector, above which there was a dial in the air counting down the hours and minutes until the New Year.
However, Kula was not allowed to join in the fun right away. Not out of spite, of course. First, a familiar misty haze began to «flow» quickly from the staircase to the top floor, and then, as it thickened near Jenna and Kula, it took on a silhouette and materialized into Aleu. Aisha, who was already seated on the couch next to BJ, couldn't resist a quip as she watched the half-wolf adjust her vest:
- It's not the first time I've watched it, and it's not even the first year, but I still envy her. – the white dog sighed, taking a sip of cool tea.
- It's funny, but I don't get tired of it. – BJ smiled at her. - Come on, what's the reason for the envy?
- It's a convenient one. You come to a party, and you don't like it, so you just turn into a witch's fart and leave quietly.
The two of them laughed at the joke, and then the red dog grabbed the plaid on the armrest of the couch and threw it over him and Aisha so that no one would see him kissing and tickling the white girl.
Aleu informed Kula that Belka had summoned her, that it would be better to come over now. Kula didn't argue and followed Balto's daughter. Jenna stayed with everyone else in the hall.
Even though the fox had plenty of time to get used to the mansion, the route seemed unusual to her, as if it went «deep into» the building. But Alu walked steadily, turning around often to make sure she was keeping up with her «sister». Bowdy joined them on the way - Aleu said Belka had asked him to come too.
Balto's daughter led the mutants to another large hall. And Kula exhaled a delighted «Wow...» again. She began to think that in all their bases (she was shown a map with the location), the Ghosts brought such unusual, if not unbelievable ideas in terms of interior decor.
The floor on which the hall was located was a sort of «half-and-half» floor, meaning that part of it was below ground level. The floor was covered with a soft beige carpet (a rug was laid in front of the steps down), in the very center of the hall stood a large round table covered with a white tablecloth, and chairs were placed around it. But the most unusual of all was the decoration of the walls and windows: on both sides almost up to the ceiling were round arches decorated with reliefs in plaster, stylized as columns of the Corinthian order. Each such arch was crowned with twelve windows of different colors: scarlet, orange, yellow, pink, dark blue, dark green, indigo and lime colors, blue, purple, brown and pearl gray*. The sight was simply astonishing. And on the very ceiling was a large black circle, in the center of which yellow-copper lines were made an ornament in the form of a solar disk with rays - the Black Sun.
- To be clawed in the ass by my own claws. – even the curmudgeonly Bowdy couldn't resist.
- Agreed. – Kula gave a grin and nodded. – The Ghosts have surprised, is surprising, and will surprise again.
- Literally rolled off the tongue. – a third voice added, the captain's voice. Belka sat at one of the chairs, from the side of the entrance it seemed to be in the middle. And it was a little surprising to see her without armor. Whenever Kula had talked to Belka face to face, the captain had always appeared before her in a charcoal-black suit made of strands of indestructible metal.
- Happy holidays, Captain. – as he approached the table, Bowdy didn't forget the greeting. – Thanks for having us here, by the way.
- Not at all, my friend. It's my pleasure. And it's no good for you to languish in the middle of nowhere. – Belka replied.
As Bowdy and Kula sat down in their chosen seats, the fox asked a reasonable question: what had they been summoned for before the feast?
- Unfortunately, because of the bad news. – was Belka's reply.
Kula and Bowdy looked at each other, and she threw a pocket holograph projector into the center of the table. It showed the symbol of the «Black Guard», a falcon carrying a shield and sword in its talons.
- Even if our mutual friend, Bowdy, still hasn't gotten his memory straightened out, I'll briefly outline the whole thing. – Belka began.
- While I was away, I only remembered how I got to you and met you personally, Cap. – interrupted the mastiff, apologizing beforehand. Apparently the topic had knocked him out of his comfort zone, because he kept wrinkling his nose, lowering his gaze, and putting his folded paws to his lips. – Head is still half-empty. No matter how much Darma tells me, the images of the past seem blurred. My brain doesn't want to work.
His half-sad mood seemed to be transferred to Kula as well. She wasn't so happy either.
- Kula, – Belka shifted her gaze. – I told you we'd find whoever made you this way. And now I want to apologize to you because we're at an impasse. We know for a fact that the «Guard» created Bowdy and Dharma, but there's nothing about you in their archives, zero divided by zero.
- I apologize to you too, Captain, but could there have been any other leads?
- We tried to check out the people involved, but there's nothing here either. Prite, Triptych, Prowler, Vol, all sitting on their asses in prison. No contact with their own, they're all being watched with a light bulb up their ass. Nothing. They even tried JTF2 and CSIS, but they almost ruined their relationship with them. They don't know anything about you.
Now Kula was truly sad for a moment. If her own mind had failed, her only hope was to have friends who were knowledgeable in such matters. Saddened by this, of course, the fox even drooped her ears.
But on the other hand, the Ghosts had done her more good - given her a home, healed her wounds, gave her a new purpose in life, even a family in a way - so Kula just couldn't hold a grudge against them.
- One last question then, Captain. – the white fox said. – Was it worth saying it now?
- You know, I thought it was worth it. – Belka answered, thinking. – I decided that I should say it now, so that all the bad things would stay in the old year. You shouldn't start the new year with negative things, you should spend it the same way.
And those words had an effect. After thinking about it, Kula agreed. It was better to know everything at once, and then return to the Elites, who were always good. After all, as they say, there's no such thing as hopelessness as long as you're alive. Maybe things could still work out.
- Thanks, Cap. Can we go now?
- Yeah, you're free to go. I'll join you shortly.
Kula and Bowdy got up and left the room. They had memorized their route, so they walked on their own - Aleu didn't wait for them. But on the way, in one of the corridors with the Ghosts' rooms, they managed to witness a scene.
As they turned the corner, Kodi and Strelka almost poured into the corridor from the next doorway. Kula and Bowdy were at the other end of the corridor, so they didn't notice them, and they didn't care - Balto's son and Belka's friend didn't let each other out of their embrace and practically didn't break the passionate kiss.
- Ugh... I feel like... I've gone completely wild in Syria and overcooked myself in the sun... – Kodi exhaled between kisses, biting Strelka's ear affectionately.
- I can see that... – she breathed back, all fired up. – I want... I want you to prove yourself a wolf...
There followed another passionate French kiss, during which Strelka was pressed against the wall, and then, without interrupting the kiss, the pair of lovers piled into their room, slamming the door shut a second later.
It took a little while for Kula and Bowdy to come back to reality. Both of them had an excellent sense of smell, and had noticed that when Kodi and Strelka were near each other, their scent... changed slightly.
- I don't think we should disturb them. – Bowdy hesitantly suggested, co*cking an eyebrow.
- I agree. – Kula replied in the same tone, nodding in accord.
Kula returned to the guest room, back to the party atmosphere, but once again the «bad things have a way of coming back» principle kicked in. Maybe there was a residue from what Belka had said. Taking from the cooler bag «Lemonade» from «Chernogolovka», Kula found a place at the end table by the Christmas tree. She took a position in the style of «sitting on the sidelines, not touching anyone». And she looked «neutral» in comparison with the others, that is, neither overtly sad, but also did not sparkle with joy. Perhaps she was rather pleased.
She was brought out of this state by Jenna and Humphrey coming up behind her.
- Boom! – The omega wolf touched the white fox's right shoulder and jumped into the seat on the left. Kula shuddered in surprise, almost choking on the cool drink, and then Jenna appeared beside her. Both Omega and the barking Elite were in high spirits, and for good reason.
- Why are you lurking here like an orphan from Kazan? – Jenna asked, hiding something behind her back.
- Jenna, I know what you said, but don't do that. – Kula said, holding her palm out in front of her, as a sign of the emphatic nature of her words. – If you do, turn on the censor or you'll get a lot of swearing.
Jenna and Humphrey exchanged glances and grinned. Aisha was still herself, even with Kula, and she was still willing to say something «edgy». But everyone had gotten used to it long ago - even if the British woman liked to swear, it was only for fun, as they say, to amuse. As long as Kula did not repeat it. They didn't pay much attention to the occasional remarks about whether Balto and Jenna were being too strict, whether they were trying to «whitewash» their ward.
- What's the matter, sour cream? – Omega persisted.
Kula shook her head, smiling.
- Why is it always sour milk or sour cream?
- Because you walk around like sour cream. Pim! – Jenna coined, tweaking Kula's nose with her finger like the «What's that on your shirt?» joke.
The Arctic fox summarized the details of the conversation with the captain (omitting the scene with Kodi and Strelka she had seen on the way back) and that now she just wanted to get back into the «celebration of life» atmosphere.
- Well, then we have something for you. – said Jenna, after which she and Humphrey moved to other seats so that they were in front of Kula. – Kula, our dear diligent student. On this merry, bright New Year's Eve, people have come up with one of the nicest traditions: giving each other presents. And I have good news for you. Here's yours. – The husky pulled out a small box topped with a ribbon bow. – Happy New Year, Kula!
As if on cue, Kula's ears immediately assumed a standing position, and her eyes rounded like two gold coins. She took the box she was handed, carefully cut the ribbon with her claws, and removed the bow (it was glued on with double-sided tape). Inside was a neatly folded silk handkerchief. It was a bit mottled: mostly beige and purple, with alternating lines of deep blue, purple, and indigo. Kula gingerly took the first gift of her life into her hands.
- It's beautiful. – she said in a half-whisper. – The color... the color is incredibly beautiful.
- I matched the color of your mask. – Jenna said, pointing to the purple «domino-mask» pattern on Kula's face. – By the way, let me show you how to put it on.
The Arctic fox didn't have time to ask, for she didn't immediately understand the real purpose of the gift, but Jenna moved over to her again, as if remembering her younger years. She took the handkerchief, folded it in a special way, and tied it around Kula's neck at the back. The Arctic fox now wore a stylish scarf** that she immediately recognized. And Jenna was right - the color really matched the «mask» around her eyes.
- I can't say it enough. – exhaled the white fox. – Thank you. Thank you so much.
Kula was touched to the core.
- Hold on, White Heart, I've got a present for you, too. - Humphrey took the floor. – I've been told that you like beautiful things. – he said, implying that Kula had chosen the efficient and «stylish» Walther PPK/S as her weapon of choice.
Kula nodded in agreement, almost squirming in her seat. The gifts made her so enthusiastic, so positive, that she didn't notice her tail wagging. Jenna thought to herself, looking at it: «That's so cute, it's to die for».
Beneath his cloak, Humphrey was hiding... a leather scabbard, hand sewn and embossed. And a knife, of course. Kula took the scabbard and pulled out the forged knife given to her** – with a finely crafted, elegant wenge wood handle, also adorned with a brass-cast wolf's head.
- Awesome. – the Arctic fox exhaled in indescribable delight. She asked Humphrey to sit closer, so that she could hug them in gratitude. It was the only way she could thank them in any way.
When the clock was counting down the last minutes before midnight, when Belka joined those present in the room, and Kama and Pushok came on the video link from the Syrian Hmeimim, Kula, like a blossoming flower, was next to the Ghosts, next to Balto and Jenna - her new family. She wore a purple scarf around her neck and a knife in a scabbard on her belt. She had her own warlike charm, grace and beauty.
But Kula had other things on her mind. She just felt better than ever. And if the omen says that you spend the new year the way you meet it, there was no reason to worry - Kula wasn't alone now.
No one knew at the time that the year would not be easy.
***
Three months later, March 29, 2018
- Hey! Come back here! – Aisha's shout, now a combination of displeasure and a sly grin, sounded like thunder. As Balto stood up to see what the reason was, Kula came running out of the door with a dazed look on her face and an open cookie box in her hand. Aisha ran after her at full speed.
It was like a typical family squabble, complete with «Looney Tunes» humor, for it was impossible to look at it without smiling. Kula stumbled down the stairs leading to the room, then somehow managed to catch herself with the TV wire.
Aya ran into the room, determined to get back the cocoa-flavored cookies she was legally owed. Adding to the comedy of the situation was the fact that she was wearing a black T-shirt with an angry Eric Cartman holding a police badge and a rubber truncheon, with the caption, «Respect my authority» at the bottom.
- Gotcha! – Aisha shortened the distance by jumping from the top of the stairs and began slapping Kula on the sides. Well, not «slapping», just patting her sides, pretending to hit her. But she also tried to get the goodies back, and Kula curled up in a ball, covering the cherished box with her hands.
- Whoa, whoa, time out, people! – the wolf-dog intervened, first separating them and then helping Kula up.
- This lady has climbed into my old locker again and stolen a box of «Jubilee» from me! - Aisha lamented, occasionally casting a glance in the direction of the ashamed Kula, as if to say, «I'll wipe the floor with your face, my dear».
- But I like cookies. – The girl who was responsible for the incident put her tail around her waist and part of her chest.
Balto shook his head, rolling his eyes. Though it might have amused him, he could at least smile at the sight of such childishness. He took the box from Kula, took out a small packet of cookies, and returned the rest to Aisha. Aisha bowed playfully and went back to her room, giving Kula a final «I'm watching you» gesture.
- More. Okay. Don't. – Balto paused at each word and poked the ashamed Kula in the side, then handed her a pack of cookies as a pocket-sized supply.
- I'm sorry, Master. – tucking her ears to her head, his ward apologized.
- Go to your room while you take a break. In an hour, put on your uniform and we'll see you at the shooting range.
With a nod and a straightened stance, Kula quickly saluted and hurried to her room.
The joy of the holidays seemed to be fleeting now. Immediately after the holidays, Belka ordered the resumption of training with the Shiny Ones and the Ghosts. And in this training, the three months of January, February and March flew by quickly. Belka flew off several times to different parts of the world, on new combat missions, as did the Elites. And Kula continued to learn the art of war.
The Shiny Ones continued to teach her the virtues of hand-to-hand combat, teaching her new techniques, which Kula memorized diligently and quickly. As expected, now, in the middle of spring, it was possible to reach the finish line in terms of training. However, not everything had been mastered yet, and no matter how capable a student was, they had to be trained in everything.
Along with the skills of mixed martial arts, which Kula was becoming more and more proficient in, she had to know and be able to handle various weapons. So along with the simulator and her room, Kula began to spend more time at the shooting range and the shooting ground there. She was required not only to shoot accurately, but also to be able to disassemble and assemble weapons and know basic information about them. So before such tests, Kula gathered all her diligence and studied and read information from relevant reference books.
Today was one of such tests. First, Kula had to show all her skills with her main weapon - «Walther». After assembling and disassembling her pistol, she took out a box of ammunition and began loading the magazine. One by one, the cartridges took their place in the magazine, seven brass capsules like little soldiers of death.
- Walther PPK/S pistol, a modification of the nine-by-seventeen millimeter cartridge developed in the United States. - Kula explained the information she had learned while loading the magazines. – The original model was developed by Walther, and was used in various modifications in the Third Reich, then in the FRG, as trophies - in the USSR and Great Britain, and some quantity was used in the USA.
Jenna, Balto, and Humphrey took turns nodding in agreement. There was nothing to complain about, as they said. And she shot her first round pretty well. The targets were special dummies in the form of a human torso and head, filled inside with fake blood. Some were mobile.
But suddenly the test got harder.
- Let's do it again. – Balto commanded. – Only now with the addition of extreme conditions.
- Like what? – Kula asked, putting the gun on safety.
- It's a training technique Kama taught us, and it's how they train Special Forces fighters. But you'll have to be extremely attentive. – explained the half-wolf, his gaze growing serious. – We go forward and stand among the targets, and you have to hit them all without hitting us.
Kula hoped it was a joke, but Balto meant it. This was indeed an «extreme» test for her. Her heartbeat sped up dramatically as the Elite seniors crossed the line from which the shooting was taking place, first to rearrange the targets and then to take their place among them. Her body felt like it was filled with tension, her pulse occasionally echoing in her temples.
- Hey, take it easy, or you're going to burst. – Humphrey, who was standing next to her, advised, noticing this reaction.
- It's complicated. – Kula answered with a note of fear in her voice, ready to press her ears to her head. – I don't want to kill them inadvertently. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.
- So try a little calmarse.
- What?
- It's Spanish for calm down.
Kula breathed in and out a few times, it seemed to help.
- Imagine that this is not only a test of marksmanship, – Omega continued to advise. – but it's also a test of your right to own a gun. Try to convince yourself that you're proving that you're worthy of carrying your gun.
It was a valid argument, and Kula took it into consideration. Clutching the gun tighter in her palm, she repeated to herself once more: «I aim, but not with my hand...». She could do it, she'd been taught to do it.
When the command was given, the student quickly raised her gun and pulled the trigger. Shot after shot was fired. The mobility of the targets made it necessary to make corrections for movement, but Kula's eyesight, as well as times before, did not fail her - having caught an image of the target in her field of vision and fixed it, the fox hit it without missing. The tension was especially high when the fire was directed at the mannequins, where Balto and Jenna were standing on their hind legs at full height.
But the last bullet had hit the mannequin just above its right cheek. If it had been a machine-gun bullet, or even a forty-five-caliber bullet, such a shot would have split a man's face in half.
All the senior Ghosts were satisfied with the results, as was Kula, of course. Though not for real, she had proven to herself that she deserved her gun. When she met Humphrey's gaze, Kula nodded in gratitude. She thanked her master for the advice.
However, it wasn't that simple, this was only the first part of the test. After successfully training for several months, Kula had to demonstrate her handling skills and knowledge of three weapons. They started with her pistol, before returning to the armory. Kula was given the choice of which weapon she would demonstrate her skill with.
Trusting to chance, Kula chose a random «gun» from those on the racks. Once again, it was a highly unusual choice - the famous AK-47 with a PBS-1 silencer. The fox already knew about the peculiarities of sabotage missions, that silent weapons were the most necessary tools for such missions. So much the better, the instructors decided, she would get used to the specifics of sabotage missions.
Kula returned to the firing range with a special case in which the automatic rifle was stored in disassembled form. There were no difficulties with disassembly-assembly, at least not tangible ones, and now the silencer was screwed on the barrel, and the magazine was loaded with special subsonic cartridges - the tips of their bullets were marked in dark green.
Once again, a brief summary of the weapons from the mouth of a Ghost cadet:
- The AK-47 assault rifle, developed by Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov in 1947, for the seven-sixty-two by thirty-nine round. The silencer, PBS-1, was adopted in 1962. The AK and its modifications are the most common small arms in the world. In various modifications it is used in almost one hundred countries. For example, Morocco, Cambodia, Egypt, the Central African Republic, Romania.
Kula inserted the magazine, but put the safety on first. Balto nodded satisfied, and Humphrey even whistled:
- You're training her pretty well. She remembers everything.
- When the mind is clear, it's not so hard. – Kula replied. Though at times learning facts about weapons became a chore, and then you just had to memorize. In that respect, the fatigue of the head was no less heavy than the fatigue of the body.
However, the «Kalash» became a challenge for Kula. She had never fired it before, so she underestimated the force of the recoil - she took the safety off and put a cartridge in the chamber, fired a short burst and immediately put the gun down, rubbing her shoulder. She said it was intense. Balto's advice was to keep the butt of the rifle tight against her shoulder, so as not to «dry» it out, otherwise, if you shoot intensively and for a long time, you might get a bruise.
Heeding the advice, Kula brought her weapon back to the ready. One of the advantages of training with the senior Elites was the greater likelihood of getting a second chance. Taking aim, Kula squeezed the trigger again. Now that she had taken the recoil into account, it was easier to control it. It was almost silent when firing the PBS, mostly the bolt and the gunpowder gasses around the silencer itself.
After firing, Kula disconnected the empty magazine and co*cked the bolt, making sure there was no cartridge in the chamber. Of the five targets, standing at different distances and in different orders, three were killed instantly and two were mortally wounded. The result was initially rated «good», but was upgraded to «excellent». All targets were hit, the mission was accomplished, and Kula showed that she had the skill to handle a weapon.
Kula, accompanied by Balto, returned to the arsenal for a third shooting session to consolidate the results and final evaluation. While the Elite returned the case with the disassembled assault rifle to its storage compartment, Kula was already looking for another gun. She hadn't noticed that Aisha was sitting on a chair on one of the crates a little to the side. She had just returned from another shooting range, and was checking her «Scorpions», with her AUG next to her.
- How's it going? - Aya asked casually.
- Two down, one more to go. – Kula turned to her and continued to look around the rack of weapons.
- Any advice?
Kula turned toward her again.
- I'd be happy to.
- Take my «Claire», you've shot with it before.
It was an amazing offer, Kula recognized that. She'd actually used her rifle on tests and marching runs before. And she had to say, it was a weapon she liked in its own way. It had a comfortable buttstock, and the front grip allowed for better recoil control. Kula even thought that, thanks to her training with the Walther and the AUG A1, she had grown fond of the weapon, no longer afraid of it.
- O-okay. – Kula nodded with a smile. Aisha, holstering the second «Scorpion», took the rifle and tossed it to her student, who successfully caught the weapon thus handed over. It was something like the thought from the movie «Exodus. Gods and Kings», where the main characters exchanged swords before battle, as if entrusting their lives to each other.
Back to the firing range. Loading magazines, combined with the oral part, with the presentation of information about the rifle. There were no problems here. Getting ready to go to the renewed firing position, Kula was a little «applied» to the weapon. She liked the AUG better than the AK.
In the third stage, a few, but not many, conditions appeared. Shooting during runs, Kula «shot» two conditional enemies at the entrance to the cafe, according to the legend captured by terrorists. Having knocked down the door, the apprentice shooter at the same moment made two aimed shots at the lanterns, as if depriving the enemy of illumination, more short bursts - at the masked figures, but not at the «hostages». At the same time, Balto used the info-display to activate a bonus of sorts, grinning to himself: «Surprise!». With her peripheral vision, Kula saw the back door fly off its hinges and another masked figure enter the room. The small surprise effect worked, so the rest of the magazine was fired at the pseudo-terrorist.
The hostages were unharmed, only one of the enemies was non-fatally wounded, so the result was marked «good». Jenna tried to reassure Kula that the test wouldn't be the last, though there was no need to reassure, for the Arctic fox already knew how to be confident in front of her elders, not to show any moodiness in such situations. She was a cadet of the Ghosts, she had to be a stalwart soldier.
Kula's days in the Ghost's life, to which she had become completely accustomed, passed one after another in such exercises, in constant training. And not to say it was a burden. Constant training and by that time a balanced schedule of exercise and rest allowed Kula to get in great physical shape. Her thick coat, the color of freshly fallen snow, glistened like silk. In the first days of March, Kula was given her first haircut, with some shortening of the hair on her body and arms. Here, in the European part of Russia, there was no need for such thick wool. Slightly thicker hair was left on the scruff of the neck. But much more important was strengthening of muscles. Kula still looked deceptively fragile, and no one would have been able to detect the fierce strength in her.
Shooting drills were interspersed with long physical training exercises. As it turned out, Kula had one trait similar to Belka's: her muscles released many times less fatigue toxins. To put it simply, Kula could do heavy exercises for long periods of time without getting tired.
Another test, also unusual, was directed at endurance.
After giving Kula a day to recuperate, Aleu then woke her up late at night, ordering her to grab her pouch and weapons belt. At first it had felt like another march, familiar to Kula from her training at Ponte de Lima. But she followed Aleu and kept going, and Balto's daughter gave no hint that the finish line was near.
The duo of half-wolf-sniper and fox-cadet spent the whole night and part of the morning on foot, interrupted by breaks. They followed the Oka River, having only once seen signs of civilization when they passed the bridge over the river. And now they were in a dense mixed forest - tall spreading birches neighboring with low spruces, there were bushes everywhere. The greenery was already showing itself, but not all of them had foliage, the leaves were still full of sap.
- I know I shouldn't complain, but I'll risk asking a question. – Kula exhaled, exhausted from the long trek, sitting on a fallen tree like an old bench. Plus, she hasn't eaten once all night! – You decided to drag me out to some forest near Serpukhov to admire a stream?
- Uh-uh, wrong. – said Aleu, who was taking off her vest at that moment. – I told you, it's a new test. Now, let me ask you a follow-up question. Are you hungry?
- You have no idea.
- Well, you're about to learn how to make your own meal.
And Kula was surprised again, and Aleu had to clarify: Ghosts had to be prepared for anything, including foraging for food without weapons or tools, and they - Aleu, her family, and Kula - had every predisposition to do so, for they were all born predators, they had to know how to hunt.
But Kula had no memory of hunting as an ordinary fox, so she had been given a kind of «young fighter's course», but in the context of tracking, stealth, and attack. Aleu had taken off her clothes to become an ordinary she-wolf for a short while, and she had put her equipment in a special bundle, which she then threw over some twigs.
- Get over there, don't you dare move. – Aleu ordered, pointing to a convenient, low branch. – Watch me.
Kula, who was allowed to keep only her belt, obediently climbed the tree and lurked behind the branches. The snow had not melted completely in April, and she could well pass for a cap of snow.
It took patience, they both had to wait. But Aleu showed that her hunting skills were still there, maintained by her yearly training, as she spotted a sleeping partridge under an old stump. Slowly, so as not to let the snow crunch under her paws or the occasional twig snap, Aleu crept up to it and with a quick leap caught up with the inattentive bird, clawing at its throat.
- Here we go. – Aleu said, showing the prey to Kula, who had come down from the tree. – Take off your belt and try to get your own dinner. I'm sure you listened attentively to me, but now it will be more difficult: try it yourself.
And Aleu was far from lying. Kula had indeed heeded all the points of the explanation, but it was not so easy. She was able to move on all four legs as well as upright posture, but she could not sneak up silently. Aleu had said that her spurts could be seen from a kilometer away. It took her almost half a day and several changes of hunting ground to move deeper into the forest, until finally Kula got lucky.
Kula realized that her main allies in the hunt would be her keen sense of smell and hearing. Her standing ears, like two antennae, picked up any noise, guiding their mistress to her target. And her sense of smell told her how close the victim was - the odor grew stronger as she approached. From the top of a low hill, she saw three birds with inky black feathers. Choosing the closest one, the white fox took off and caught up with her prey before it realized anything. Her jaws snapped shut, and there was a crunch that sounded remotely like the crackle of burning logs in a fireplace, and Kula felt blood on her tongue.
She returned to Aleu with a well-fed grouse in her teeth.
- Good girl, now you have a portion for dinner. – the half-breed said in a satisfied tone. – And you've got a raw food day planned, that's when you'll get a taste for organic, all-natural meat.
- Thank you for the praise. – Kula replied, spitting feather particles from her lips. – Though I daresay I'd be quicker with a gun.
- Now, honey, that was the point of the test. You have to learn.
- That's what I said, it's just a thought out loud.
And Aleu thought for a moment.
- The spirits and the captain will curse me, but if you volunteer, then show me.
Placing the grouse next to the partridge Aleu had strangled, Kula searched for her belt. She quickly pulled her pistol from its holster and a pistol silencer from the pocket beside it.
- Whoa-whoa spy, I don't think that's quite legal. – Aleu said in surprise. Kula, however, did not miss her chance for a remark, and it was to Balto's daughter that she responded in her own words:
- As long as the police aren't around, it's all legal. Just don't abuse it, I'll remember that.
Aleu smirked and muttered sarcastically to herself:
- We'll both be cursed.
The second move required the same sneaking and stalking skills as the previous times, only now Kula was allowed to bring a gun as an exception. She could tell the position of her next victim by the rustle of fallen leaves, but when she saw it, it wasn't a bird, but a grayish-brown animal. But Kula gathered all her composure, slowly raised the gun and squeezed the trigger. The gun clanked muffledly, and the beast fell to its side. But while Kula was sneaking up on it, another of the same beast came running up. Apparently he didn't realize what had happened to his comrade. It was as if Kula had awakened the physical memory of her former self, and she finished off the second beast by biting its neck.
As Aleu explained, they were two raccoon dogs.
- Two at once? You're the luckiest person I've ever met. Although I'll be honest, I've never tasted raccoon dog meat. But you got two decent-sized pelts, maybe enough for a pair of mittens, I don't know.
- Why would I need mittens? – besieged Kula with a chuckle. – I'm the one with the fur.
- Well, that's your business. – Aleu replied. – If you want, you can just keep the pelts as a souvenir, or you can sell them - it's my job to advise you.
During the rest of the day, by nightfall Kula had managed to catch another raccoon dog and a grouse. The more experienced Aleu had more prey, which was quite logical. However, hunger made itself known, and some of the prey had to be skinned right at the camping site. Kula chewed the raw meat for a long time, as if reluctant, but the predator's nature prevailed, and she ate the whole partridge with more confidence.
Somewhere in the distance, wolves howled, but it was as if Aleu had asked her wolf side for silence while she skinned one of the animals Kula had caught.
- Somebody you know? – the latter tried to make a joke, though she wasn't very good at it.
- Nope. – Balto's daughter replied sluggishly.
- I'm sorry if I offended you. Can I ask you a creepy question?
- Go ahead.
- Have you... ever fought wolves like yourself?
Aleu cast a glare at Kulu that literally reeked of coldness, but her voice was remarkably calm.
- Well, there was that. Yes, I was of the same species as them, and I had no desire to fight them. But they attacked me. They must have been so hungry that they decided to repeat the first chapters of «White Fang». I had no choice but to shoot one of them. This is probably one of the hardest decisions I've ever made in my life.
After listening to her, Kula chose to eat more meat in silence. She must have felt guilty again. It was always someone pulling her tongue, she thought to herself. Perhaps the elders were right about that: you shouldn't let the darkness find you. There's a chance to enjoy tranquility - take it.
When they returned to the mansion, the game they had caught was a feast for all the world, and Kula received new praise for her efforts. She shivered, acting all embarrassed and self-conscious, but she was flattered - it's always nice for a student to be appreciated, as it is for a craftsman to be praised for his work.
Along with Kula, the Shiny Ones also spent their days in the mansion in their own way, and Sasha and Arno also stayed here. Perhaps they would have been happy to return to their squad, but their mission here was not finished. No one complained though, they felt they were still needed. With each training session the number of Kula's unlearned techniques decreased, the Arctic fox herself was learning to perform new sets of these very techniques. And it was hard to find better trainers than assassins to teach stealth against hostile enemies.
For the Shiny Ones themselves, the best pastime was those evenings when they were summoned by the Strongest of Dogs to the very hall with twelve windows. During their time in the mansion, they had discovered the leader of the Ghosts from a somewhat unusual, down-to-earth side. She appeared to them more often without armor and seemed so... ordinary. Except for the unusual claws. But it didn't diminish the enthusiasm of every «summons to superiors».
- I think as mentors, we've already shown our juice. – Solomon said. After several such «round tables», he more than anyone else kept naturally to himself. – Krav maga and hand-to-hand combat, she can grasp it on the fly. A prodigy, I can't think of any other words. Am I boring anyone?
The assassins chuckled, but nodded denying it, saying that it was okay.
- What about you, Master Khaliset? – Belka decided to ask the princess.
- What about me? I have the same words. – she answered. – She knows how to handle the bow, she can train herself, but she should not forget it.
- I can say the same about the lasso. – Darrah remarked.
Václav, as always, who sat in silence and preferred to listen, only added modestly:
- It's just like Sasha said: we are the ones who must excel, such is the burden of a mentor. Only with Kula, it came out a hundred times faster than we all thought.
- And Sasha said all the right things. – Belka continued. – Otherwise I wouldn't have recommended such a team of experts. And don't you dare praise my merits now, saying how cool and legendary I am.
Khaliset and Nogel grinned and nodded affirmatively, Václav raised his paws, and said nothing. Only Darrah quipped:
- And I was so eager to do it.
- For now you're free to go, gentlemen, thank you. Master Khaliset, if you'd like, you can come see me in an hour. Just bring your bow.
As they say, there was no need for a second invitation. It was a direct hint that the Archer herself was inviting to the archery range, which meant that it would not be without a couple of lessons from the leader of the Ghosts.
There were times when Sasha was included in such meetings. But she spent more time either in the simulator with Kula, or walking around the mansion, alone or with Arno. And in that she found the main benefit of her situation. She could spend a lot more time with her best friend now, though deep down she longed to go back to the States, to her squad.
Of course, it was not left unnoticed. But of all of them, only Strelka hinted most openly «where the wind is blowing». Arno would sometimes visit her in her laboratory, where Iron Dog would show him her numerous tools and gadgets, or listen to the assassin herself. He was most impressed by the handmade wristband and taser blade she had assembled. Arno's praise was invariably dismissed, citing luck, that he was more of a self-taught inventor than a pro or a scientist.
He was reminded of Sasha by chance. When a stopwatch was needed during a demonstration test, Arno pulled out his watch with a hinged case - a newel, a replica of some vintage model - she noticed immediately that there was a black-and-white photo on the back of the case. Sasha, of course. «What a good boy. – thought Strelka. – I haven't seen such a beauty in a long time, no kidding».
- It's a nice picture. – she remarked casually.
- This? Made by one of ours when Sasha came back. – Frost replied. – That day must have been one of the best. When she showed up at the Dog Pit again, it was like she'd come back from the dead, pardon the tautology.
- I can tell you've got a crush on her. - Strelka said it directly.
Frost, surprisingly, answered quite calmly:
- Of course. I'd give my life for her. I'm alone in life, and a better friend than she is to be found. It's amazing how she tolerated our freak show and turned it into the best.
- As one bad man would say, keep your complexes to yourself, sir. And friends? Sorry to pry, but I don't believe that.
If Strelka decided to purposely stun the interlocutor with such a «head-on» technique, she succeeded now. Arno tried not to show that he was confused. The affection between him and Sasha was growing, but he either denied the possibility of warm feelings or didn't want to admit it to himself. And here he was caught unawares on such a topic.
- Yeah. As they would say in that game Sasha told me about, it's happiness aided by misfortune. It just so happened that we were able to combine work and friendship... – His voice shook, and then Frost shook his head. – sh*t, I'm sorry, my word filter's broken, I'm rambling.
- Come on, stop bemoaning it. – Strelka persisted. – I'm just skeptical to call it friendship when «friends» sleep in the same bed. And as Mabel would say, someone's got a crush, ha ha!
Arno would have preferred to disintegrate into atoms and reassemble somewhere else. You could joke that he'd been caught by his own tail, if he had one.
- Okay... Let's say you caught me. All right, I won't lie to you. – his outward calmness was gone, Arno was frankly nervous. – I don't even know how to tell her how much I care about her. My mind keeps going back and forth: either she'll think it's a joke, or she'll say she doesn't feel that way.
- Thinking too much again. Hak mir nicht kein, dummy! My advice: you can't hide something like that.
Arno felt either embarrassed or ashamed for a moment, but said he took the advice to heart. And such situations happened often in the mansion, not only with Frost.
Kula was already familiar with Sasha, but because of her training, she didn't always get a chance to talk to her. Either she had to practice in the simulator or at the firing range, or the fatigue at the end of the day blocked her thoughts, or hunger did the same. As they say, hunger is not a bitch, even genuine interest will move you.
In recent days, however, the occasional opportunity had presented itself. Kula had often seen her wandering slowly down the alley near the mansion, picking up something unusual in her paws: a cord tied in a ring with a cross and beads strung on it. At the same time she was saying something to herself. After the Elites and Humphrey, Sasha seemed to Kula another «lover of wisdom», who could start a conversation on very deep topics, who had her own unusual philosophy. In conversations with her Kula got her first superficial ideas about religion, but she was always apologizing for not fully understanding everything about it.
- There's really no need to apologize, – the Master Assassin reassured the white fox. – Religion itself is not an easy and, I will even say, controversial topic. Especially since you're not a Christian to the core. I reread Christian literature, imbued with this philosophy, although given my craft there were guys who considered me the opposite, anti-Christian.
- Because your faith condemns murder? – Kula asked, stepping forward and walking with her hands behind her back.
- Of course it does. The sixth commandment, «Thou shalt not kill». In fact, all the world's religions strongly condemn murder, so remember: only radicals and fanatics call for the massacre of «infidels».
- Got it.
- I realize that my profession is far from holy, but I'm honest about it, may God forgive my grave sins. I have a different approach to life, I believe that everything in this world needs balance, so faith for me is only one component of life.
- I could be wrong, and if I accidentally offend you, again, I apologize in advance, – Kula interjected again. – But... how shall I put it?
- If you're talking about my attitude to the world, or the attitude of my faith, then everything is twofold for me. – Sasha interrupted her. She paused and picked up the rosary in her paw, then decided to dig out one of the quotes she had memorized. – There is no love of God in him who loves the world. For everything in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of worldly things, is not of God, but of this world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever***.
- Oh... – Kula exhaled meaningfully. – Interesting.
- But to me, it's not so clear-cut. Religion for me is like a moral strengthening, because it puts eternal values like peace, spirituality, and love. But this earthly world has also given me light things. My friends first of all.
Kula smiled after Sasha. Yes, it was a lot of reasoning and discussion, but it seemed to the white fox that Sasha was right about something. Maybe God doesn't give you more trials than you can bear? So even to her new appearance of an upright fox Kula involuntarily began to treat philosophically. However, now her thoughts were forced to change again when the info-display showed a reminder that she had to go to training. Thanking Sasha for the interesting conversation, Kula ran to the training building.
Knowing that this test would bring her one step closer to «graduation», Kula had no doubts about the outcome, though there could be reasons for that. When faced with assassins, she usually won five out of ten fights, using her agility and ability to memorize fighting styles. The assassins were only able to bring the Arctic fox to the ground or deliver a conditionally lethal blow when they teamed up.
The unloading vest was fastened, and the rifle magazines were placed in the pockets provided for that purpose. Kula co*cked her pistol three times, put it back in its holster, and stepped forward into the simulator elevator.
As training progressed, a few other little things were added. Instead of a holster at her side, she was given a new one, belted on a wide Kevlar belt. Even the nose of the holster had been carefully adjusted so that she could quickly pull the gun out and then put it back in. There was invariably a knife sheath on the other side, and sickle loops on either side of her waistband.
The «fun» started almost as soon as Kula ran into the «location», this time some post-apocalyptic abandoned shopping center. Khaliset was the first to give herself away - her arrow ricocheted just under the Arctic fox's ear. The second arrow was knocked out by two pistol shots, and the third was deflected by a sickle blade.
«I've been doing this for so long, I can't get used to it» – flashed through Kula's mind as she ran to reload her gun.
A sudden obstacle in the form of a taut rope appeared in front of her at the level of her neck. Half-reflexively, Kula immediately «knelt» down and rolled over. She passed the rope, but Václav was already striking with his hind paw from the turn, and Kula tensed her legs for a jump. As if through the eye of a needle, she flew between the rope and his paw, and then did a graceful roll. Then she had to straighten up like a spring and get into a stance.
After fending off a «three» to the stomach and body, the white fox still snatched one solid blow from below, but immediately responded with her new technique, which she called «Crocodile». Kula grabbed him by the shoulders, and after a short leap, Kula's legs hit the wall and she spun around like a spindle. The assassin was spun in the same way, and since Kula was the first to return to normal position, she was the quickest to strike, sometimes known as a «kick in the ass».
Two more arrows struck nearby, so she had to catch up with Khaliset on the floor above. Spotting an old sign, Kula pulled out one of her sickles and threw it right into the bindings. Leaving them missing, the sign fell down, stuck between floors, forming a convenient platform. Kula jumped up and grabbed the edge of the railing, then climbed up to the floor and pulled out the sickle stuck in the ceiling.
But Khaliset had already changed her position, which was natural, so Kula kept her ears open and her sickles ready. More often than not, hearing helped in fighting her, as it had back then, during the simulation in the prison cellblock. But it seems that the Swazi princess was able to take that into account, because the lunge from behind came as a surprise to her opponent. Kula lunged again with a roll as Khaliset attempted a lower bow strike like a pole, and immediately put her sickles out in front of her for a block.
Pulling back, Kula was able to change her approach. With a measured swing of her sickle, she cut the bowstring, depriving her opponent of at least one item in her arsenal. But Khaliset still had a hidden blade, which she now released with a clang and immediately rushed to the attack, intending to attack again from below.
The air was filled with the clang of clashing metal - the hardened gray-blue steel of the hidden blade and the lightning-hardened alloy of the paired blades' leupthra. The master assassin was attempting to impose the most uncomfortable fighting style on her opponent, where she had to lower her arms to parry the lower blows. Throwing her leg forward so that her opponent's fist strike would hit her kneecap, Kula followed up with a sickle parallel to the ground, and Khaliset's blade slid to the side, while with her other hand she delivered an almost circular blow from bottom to top. But the assassin took a step back as well, and the sharp blade flashed in front of her nose.
In a quick, yet smooth motion, Kula turned the sickles so that they were «leaned» against her hands with the blades looking downward. Raising her hands in a block, she brought her hilted hands up to strike or reflect Khaliset's blade with her blades. It was a bit like a martial dance, with its quick rhythm: Kula took a step backward to keep her foot out of the way, then moved sideways and brought her sickle under the blade, and then, while Khaliset still had her paw in the blocking position, struck twice with the sickles from above, a sort of deathmill. Khaliset also had time to block, so neither opponent was clearly successful, the blades of the sickles smashing into the sturdy wood that made up the bow.
Once again, Kula changed her approach. With the sickles back on her forearms, she jerked the bow upward and used the end of the handles to strike Haliseth in the chest. Taking advantage of the moment, Kula moved behind the assassin's back with lightning speed and pawed her, tripping her, then tossing her aside. Khaliset jumped to her feet and, as if in retaliation, swiftly threw a thin throwing blade at the white fox. Only her reflexes, sharp as the blades of her sickles, allowed Kula to raise her hand and clench her gloved palm in time to hold the deadly gift in front of her face. «Holy sh*t, what is she, Billy Rocks?!» – Kula only had time to think before she counterattacked. Throwing her arm forward, she fired her electric gun, but missed.
- Damn it! – Kula grumbled.
A few bullets whizzed by her ear! Kula darted toward Khaliset and pulled a couple of arrows from her quiver, hoping that one of them would be a smoke arrow. Thank the spirits, there was one, and the fox plunged it into the floor, immediately disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
Running to a nearby pavilion, Kula drew her pistol and with a couple of shots she brought down another sign, barricading the entrance. That would have delayed Khaliset, but not Solomon. The Tennesian replaced the makeshift revolver with a lasso. A noose encircled Kula's torso, and then she was tossed upward as Darrah threw the rope upward, over the statue's arm, and pulled up. Taking advantage of the pendulum effect, he held on to the other end.
Thrusting his hind paws forward like a battering ram, he struck Kula in the lower back, knocking her forward. The blow was hard, but not as painful - well, or Kula already knew how to tolerate pain. She rolled over onto her back, her eyes widening at the sight of her opponent at a dangerous distance, and rolled to the side, jumping to her feet like a ninja.
- You're dead, uncle! – Kula suddenly said, rushing into a counterattack.
Balto and Aleu, who had been watching from the control room, barely managed to restrain a laugh.
- Our gifted stalker is on fire today. – the younger half-breed, however, quipped.
Dodging the retriever's blows and lunges, Kula snatched the lasso from him, shoved a shopping cart at him, and jumped onto another and jumped up a second time. Grabbing the statue's arm, she threw the rope down, and upon landing she began to reel the lasso in faster and faster. But of course Solomon couldn't be baited that easily. There was no water nearby, so Kula had no choice but to use the «Nitro-Boost». As she accelerated, she disoriented the Tennesian with her second approach, and then she had already thrown the noose over him. Quickly wrapping the rope in several coils around his shin, Kula drew his leg back sharply, pulling Solomon toward her. With her arm forward, the fox first unbalanced her opponent, causing him to twist, and then slammed him to the floor.
- Stay down! - The Arctic fox said, rewinding the lasso. Solomon wouldn't wake up right away, so she had time.
- That was intense. – Balto said in an approving voice.
Kula swung over the railing and found herself in front of another part of the location, a pavilion with a large neon-lit sign reading «Plasmids».
«I'm a sucker for this kind of challenge. – Kula joked to herself. – Now I've been sucked into the first episode of Burial at sea. But this is reality, and the pavilion is still realistic. It's a good thing we don't have any crazy splicers around here».
Her sense of smell told her that Khaliset and Nogel might be waiting for her here. With her sickles in their loops, Kula drew her pistol and knife and cautiously moved forward. The odor was getting stronger, the assassin could be anywhere, and the constantly blinking lamp seemed to add to the suspense and tension.
If Kula had even sharper hearing, she might have picked up on Elias's pulse racing as he held his finger on the remote. He had hidden the wire well under the carpet and was now waiting for the shadow of a dewy white fox to fall on the tentative line. Behind the door, in a pile of boxes, he had hidden an unpleasant surprise - a portable taser battery. And he had set it so that it was aimed inside the room.
And as soon as Kula entered the pavilion, Elias pressed the button. His hearing had time to catch the noise of the lids flying off, and his brain had already given the command to rush to the side, but the small hooks of the shockers were flying in a frenzy, more than a dozen of them. A few of them did dig into Kula's clothes, some of them piercing the skin with their tips. It was enough to send the fox's body into an uncontrollable spasm when the current crackled. She dropped the knife, and then fell on her stomach.
Putting the remote on the floor, Elias stepped cautiously out of his hiding place. He was sure he had neutralized the enemy. Even the Elites were sure of that. However, the fox had been underestimated by everyone. Only the very ends of three or five striking elements had penetrated the skin, and the shape and thick underfur had acted as an insulator. Kula was conscious, though her body was barely listening to her now. There seemed to be interference in her head. But the fox noticed in the reflection of the glass window opposite that she was being approached. The task became much more difficult. The same showcase had a steel edge, but it was difficult to lift the gun without being seen. «I hope this works...» – Kula decided through gritted teeth. Clutching the gun, she raised the barrel and fired. The effect of surprise worked: Nogel had expected the enemy not to be completely incapacitated. The bullet slid down the barrel of the shotgun and bounced off the armor plate into the floor, startling him.
- Prypyl... dude... – the white fox whispered, rising to her feet.
- The longhaired pointer was astonished as he released his hidden blade.
Kula had to summon all the strength in her still collapsing body to stop the paw with the blade just in time, and then throw it over her shoulder. Kula decided to finish off the non-medical shock therapy in the style of brute force. Grabbing the wires of the shockers, some of which were still sticking out of her uniform, the fox pulled up the entire module and threw Elias into the wall with them like a battering ram.
- I hate electrocution. – Kula huffed, wrinkled but recovered from her predicament, pulling the hooks from her uniform.
If you counted the long sparring session with Khaliset as a victory, Kula had beaten two of the four assassins. It wasn't that easy after all. Václav was still in the ranks, and the Swaziland princess could find a roundabout way. Therefore, after leaving the pavilion, the Arctic fox checked the ammunition in her pistol and began to think about where to go next and whether it was worth moving at all.
Suddenly someone jumped down nearby. Kula had already raised her gun, but then she noticed something strange: Haliseth had wound a new bowstring, a spare, probably, but she wasn't aiming at her, she was looking up.
- She's here. Conditions have changed. – the archer said in spite of the fox.
Kula was now frankly embarrassed and wary. She pulled out one of her sickles, starting to look around as well. It looked like something not so good was coming....
Something she'd rather be wrong about. The coal-black shadow was already creeping silently, like a venerable predator, along the upper passages and passages, then jumped down. The vibranium soles instantly extinguished the energy of the fall, which Belka immediately released into a shockwave. Kulu and Khaliset were knocked off their feet as if they'd been shoved. Shrieking, but immediately regrouping, the white fox straightened her arms to push herself off the floor and do a somersault. But as soon as she pointed her pistol at her new opponent, Kula recognized her captain, Archer Belka. Things took a turn for the worse.
Khaliset was the first to get hit. The assassin put away her bow and tried to fend off Archer with a hidden blade and a short sword, but both bounced off her vibranium cloak with sparks, and her sharp claws were hard to dodge. In her next attempt at a frontal stab, Belka caught Khaliset's paw, elbowed her in the side, knocked her sword away from her, and with a deft lunge leaped around her neck to twist it like a spindle.
Kula realized she had no choice. Like Idris Elba in the final scene of The Dark Tower, she leaned the gun with the receiver to her forehead and repeated to herself: «I shoot, but not with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten his father's face. I shoot with my mind». Twirling the gun like a cowboy twirls his revolver, Kula looked for metal surfaces and pulled the trigger several times. Sparks flew in several places where bullets ricocheted, sending several lead messages whizzing around Belka. One of the bullets struck her in the side, which immediately flickered purple, and the bullet fell to the floor flattened.
Kula didn't notice that the bullet hadn't done any damage, but she hadn't expected it to. Putting away her gun and sickle, she sprang from her hiding place and sprinted forward on four paws. Just as at Whitehorse, but driven not by blind rage but by determination, Kula, headlong, knocked Belka off her feet. The inertia of the two, clutching at each other, kept them moving until they broke through the railing. Belka's body shattered several empty plywood crates, and Kula fell on her back. The impact was sensitive, but not enough to cause physical apathy.
Both opponents quickly jumped to their paws, their battle-ready gazes meeting. The two women looked like they were glaring at each other, Kula's fur fluffing up at the back of her neck. Dodging the arrow that had been thrown at her, Kula lunged again. She drew out her sickles and began to strike one after another with broad sweeps. Archer proved to be a difficult target, jumping sideways, making «dives» or deflecting the blades with her armor-protected paws. She also tried to attack herself. Kula managed to block, and a whole «line» of quick blows came to her blocked hands.
She almost succeeded in bringing Kula to the floor, but she was able to wrap her legs around the belt of the Ghosts' leader and perform a «Crocodile» technique.
When Kula heard the battle cry from behind, she knelt and lowered her back, as if on instinct, so that she was parallel to the ground. Nogel pushed off from her like a convenient springboard for a jump. In mid-air, he released his hidden blade, but Belka, seemingly trapped in a corner, turned toward the wall and... lunged sharply at it, so that the longhaired pointer's blade slammed into the floor. Pushing off the wall with a distinctive «Blam!», Belka grabbed Nogel's shoulders in flight and threw him with all her might at Khaliset, who was running down the stairs. Both opponents were knocked off their feet.
Once again gathering more determination and courage, Kula attacked again. Taking out her sickles, she took a short leap and pushed herself off the wall, turning her body slightly in flight and twirling her arms and sickles to the sides. A dangerous spindle of death. Belka evaded this attack by flailing backward, but Kula also continued her acrobatic onslaught. One move seemed to flow out of the other: after doing an impressively graceful «wheel» forward, she threw her leg forward and threw Belka into the wall behind her.
Balto and Aleu, who were watching, gave a surprised «Wow!».
- Kula, you're only making her angry. – the half-wolf said conspiratorially.
Although because of the ghost helmet, Belka's emotions were completely unreadable. Only the milky cloudy lenses widened and narrowed into a cold squint. She smelled of an almost otherworldly chill, and it seemed that nothing could get through to her.
Kula straightened her arm and decided to fire her electric pistol, but Archer, who had taken the lead, simply swung her arm upward, and the electrodart hit the sign, causing it to blink with neon and sparks.
Kula was already starting to panic a little. Belka was so much smaller than her, closer in build to a husky, to Jenna, but even a little shorter than her, and yet she was hurting so badly. And her unknown armor was unscathed by bullets. With her hand clenched into a fist, the fox struck a powerful blow with her left. The reflexes that allowed Belka to dodge the shot at point-blank range without much effort allowed her to move her paw in time. The blow resulted in a thud that was hard to describe. Kula jerked to the side, shaking her fist as if she had struck herself.
But it was necessary to continue the battle.
Upstairs, someone was again raising a battle cry, this time Václav. And while the Romanian saber assassin was desperately trying to do the leader of the Ghosts some damage, Kula was once again looking for little to no loopholes and items of encirclement. Bingo! Tucking one of the sickles behind her belt, the fox grabbed her pistol in its place and fired twice into the ceiling, bringing down another technical ladder or other structure, but it fell in an arc like a pendulum, knocking Belka off her feet.
But Kula didn't fully calculate her attack. Swinging her sickle from bottom to top, she framed her side, which then took several hard blows. The fox retreated from the contact zone and used the lasso, expecting to use Solomon's technique to throw the rope and lift Belka above the ground, but she simply cut the rope with her claws.
- Very impressive tenacity. – Archer said.
- I know. – Kula replied, hiding the tremor in her voice. – You taught me well.
The Arctic fox attacked again, snarling again with fur standing up. But Belka managed to knock one sickle out of Kula's hands, and the Arctic fox was deprived of the second one in the next attack from above. With a sharp jump in place, Archer threw her opponent into the wall.
- Umph! – was heard as Kula slammed into it with a thud.
Tossing the sickle in her right paw, Archer slammed it into the wall with a precise throw that actually nailed Kula to it - the blade grazed the fabric of her uniform, but not her skin.
«That's it, I'm finished...» – Kula thought, realizing she wouldn't be able to get free, before she squeezed her eyes shut.
But nothing happened. When she opened her eyes, the blade of the sickle that Belka had left was a millimeter from her chin, and when she opened her eyes, the leader of the Ghosts had put the weapon away.
- Fail? – Kula asked quietly, as if afraid of what seemed like inevitable defeat.
- No, it wasn't. That would have been the case if you'd blended in quickly. You held your ground. I'm impressed. Consider yourself delegated a technical victory. That was the essence of the challenge, dignity and perseverance.
Kula couldn't believe her ears. She had almost managed to stand up to the leader of the Ghosts herself, had been one step away from failure. This fight now seemed to her to be the most intense she had ever been in before. And she had been deemed worthy. A mountain range or a small moon seemed to fall from her shoulders. Absurd, but that's how she felt.
The assassins also received their praise. As Belka explained, she purposely didn't say she was going to be their opponent in order to avoid absentee panic and low self-esteem. The halo of legend surrounding Archer in the Assassin community was difficult to eradicate, so if such a rumor were to pass, the Shiny Ones would immediately label the fight as a lost cause and consider themselves doomed.
Everyone in the locker room was prepared for unusual help - a few cotton white handkerchiefs and bags of dry ice, because everyone in this, without exaggeration, a small battle got bruises and cuts.
- I'll take the blade to Animus, the trouble is that the fur doesn't give me a good look at the bruise, and the double trouble is that it'll heal. - Darrah sneered as he wrapped an ice pack around the bruise with his belt. – Marks from fighting the Supreme Ghost herself, holy f*cking sh*t...
- My sides don't agree with you, but yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if no one in the squad believes it. – Gavlik put his handkerchief to his bleeding nose and muttered. – I've forgotten the last time I've gotten so badly f*cked up. Umph...
But as soon as a few satisfied voices were heard, the entire foursome turned their gaze to the stairs leading to the next room. From there it was possible to go up to the control room.
Kula returned to the locker room, accompanied by Aleu, Balto, and Jenna, who were glowing with delight and admiration, while the Arctic fox changed her clothes. The military uniform was replaced by a gold and black longsleeve, leggings with Slavic ornaments, and a belt on her side: a holster with a pistol on one side and a scabbard with a knife on the other. And the «cherry on the cake» was the invariable light purple neckerchief. Kula looked more like an elegant heroine of an adventure novel than a military officer.
- I'd like to get my ass kicked in hell. – Darrah smiled broadly. – Once again, the Ghosts are as good at beauty as they are at weapons.
- I told you, you're irresistible, sister. – said Alu, lightly elbowing Kulu in the side.
- And cute. – Jenna said.
- Spare my cheeks. – Kula fake waved her cheeks away.
Everyone knew it was a common reaction; Kula had never been complimented before joining the Ghosts. Now she was blooming with words like Solomon's and the Elites', but she didn't say it out loud, adding that it was the image that did the trick, and that Aisha had helped create the stylish image.
All the way to the main building Kula walked in silence, applying a cold compress now and then to her side and then to her lower back. The Shiny Ones kept asking questions of Belka, who was walking ahead of them, using various epithets to express their impressions and experience to each other.
Kula looked at Solomon's belt. Along with a concealed blade and a «Remington 870» shotgun, he often alternately carried one of two revolvers on his belt - a homemade revolver, assembled as if by a survivalist from various spare parts, with a silencer made of tubing and rubber washers. The other, judging by the grip, was nothing less than a «Peacemaker». And Kula was curious about it for some reason.
- Mr. Darrah, may I ask you a question? – with a pat on the retriever's shoulder, she decided to ask.
- Permission granted, mon cher. – he answered without hesitation.
- Were you a military dog or a Ranger dog?
Darrah exchanged a look of surprise and admiration with Balto before answering:
- I never cease to be amazed at your erudition, Kula. But the Rangers were and are in Texas, and I'm from Tennessee.
- My bad.
- Don't be. What makes me look like an army service dog?
- I just thought, since you have such an interesting model, like the «Peacemaker», a forty-five-caliber long «Colt», you're connected to the army. That model, if I'm not mistaken, was reintroduced in '95. Maybe they're still in use.
Balto smiled like a proud father, and Solomon smiled broadly.
- It's even flattering to me, now knowing I look like a brave soldier, but no. I'm a Chesapeake Bay retriever, I don't remember us being used by the military. So I'm just a simple domestic commoner and a friend of my master's. Pet dog by day, shadow warrior by night. I got this revolver on a mission. I came to Greenville on an errand to kill some m-word freak who'd gotten out of court on a gun charge. It wasn't the first time he'd been accused, so the Council drew a target on him. I already found this «Colt» at his place. Then I had to ask the Council in writing to let him keep it. But he didn't shoot it very often, he had about 100 rounds on it. With a blade, God forgive me, I've killed more freaks.
After training, it was an unspoken tradition for the group to gather in the common guest room, where they usually split into two - the Shiny Ones would sit at their table, and those Ghosts who were in the mansion would join them. And Kula with Balto and Jenna (or Aleu and Kodi) would sit on the opposite side of the room, on a comfortable couch, listening to music, reading, or just lying around doing nothing.
If Kula's thoughts weren't on something distracting, she was simply enjoying having her beloved kind souls Balto and Jenna around. In that respect, her adjustment to her new life was pretty much complete. She'd become imbued with the Ghost Brotherhood, accustomed to the training routine, and called the Ghosts her friends with ironclad confidence. Brothers in arms, teammates - she didn't say it herself, but it was subconscious, a kind of «between the lines», and Kula didn't need anything else.
Her thoughts were uneven today: Jenna's presence was comforting, but her body was aching and sleepy after the workout. Kula pecked her nose as she read.
- My palms are shaking, is that normal? – she asked quietly.
- It's normal. It's adrenaline. You were scared, I guess, but it's okay.
The assassins, meanwhile, were laughing heartily at something, they and Aisha and BJ, who had returned from another hot spot the day before.
- Really? You were about to be suspended for killing someone with a hairpin? – Aya asked as she looked at the thin blade that Khaliset had almost defeated Kula with.
But the Swazi princess didn't seem to appreciate her humor, responding with a serious and reproachful look and adding dryly:
- Very funny.
- It's like I've got an EMP in my head, – Kula wheezed. Sometimes, when she was tired, lethargic, or sad, she would speak softly, almost in a whisper, as if she were about to shed a tear. And she would add that she imagined herself with a face as heavy as that of Robicheaux the Gunslinger in The Magnificent Seven when he failed to shoot. Aleu thought her mentee (or sister) was just moping.
- The sour cream has gone sour again. – Balto quipped.
- Go lie down if you want. Get some sleep. – Jenna suggested.
- I'll sleep till morning.
- Honey, tomorrow's Sunday, you have the day off.
- What about you? – Kula rolled over onto her back, looking at them with a heavy look, as if she was suffering from a nuclear mixture of insomnia and longing for her neighbor. «Is she doing it on purpose?» – the elder husky thought involuntarily as she felt her cheeks flush under her fur.
- What about us? Humphrey and his buddies replaced us in Syria. We'll be here with a guarantor for the next couple days.
- Hooray... – the edges of Kula's lips lifted in a smile. – Wait, I'll just be a second.
She rose somewhat uneasily and walked to the other end of the room, where Aleu and Kodi were once again rewatching «The Shining», just at the «Here comes Johnny!» moment.
- Oh, Jack Nicholson. – Kula pointed at the screen, as if incidentally, and... took Aleu in her arms, the way children take dogs below the front legs.
- What the... – the younger half-breed was stunned, giggling a little. She had last been carried like this only in Nome, last century, and that once, so she'd pretty much forgotten it.
- I'm sorry, bro, I'm going to steal Ala away from you for a while. – Kula said calmly, looking at Kodi, who didn't get it. – She's a mystic, she'll get me to sleep faster.
As they say, touché. Jenna shrugged playfully, joining Kula as if pretending she wasn't going to set Aleu back down on the floor. Shaking his head, Kodi shook his head and sighed naively as well, but thought with a sly expression before turning back: «If Strelka comes back today, I hope she's not going to give up the condensed milk, hehe».
Accompanied by Aleu and Jenna, Kula walked leisurely to her room and hung her undone belt on the coat rack. The room had been formally assigned to her when she arrived at the mansion, but Kula was still herself and continued to share the spacious bedroom with the Elites. As strange as it sounded to the cadet, she refused to spend the night without them. That's why the Elites and Kula shared the same room, and the large double bed, on which the big fox could sleep diagonally, and it happened if she started to toss and turn in her sleep, predisposed her to it.
The only things in this room that belonged to Kula were her backpack, a modest set of clothes, and a small coffee table with drawers where the cadet kept her belongings, which had recently been supplemented by a book of novels, «The Call of the Ancestors» and «White Fang» in one volume, and a photo album.
There were no pictures in it. There was a story behind it, a story Jenna kept to herself to avoid the harmless whispers behind her back and to avoid embarrassing Kulu for nothing. The thing is that in February the captain awarded the fox-cadet with a bronze badge «For Success in Training», which was accompanied by a modest monetary reward. Kula received a two thousand ruble bill, but it was perfectly straight, as if it had just been issued, without a single wrinkled edge. The white fox, such a novelty, as they call it, «went in», she simply refused to spend it, calling it «numismatic collector's item». So the «two-thousand-dollar» took a place in the album allocated for this purpose.
- Why don't you take your clothes off? Isn't it hot? – Aleu asked as Kula plopped down in the middle of the bed.
- No, it's fine. – the other girl said in a low voice. – What the hell is going on? She'd said she was tough, but it was like she was going to storm. From steel to soft palladium at the snap of a finger.
- It's all right, my dear. There's no such thing as perfectly inflexible. – Jenna gave her a pillow. – Even the titan Atlas groaned and sagged under the weight of the firmament. And you've been on the chase all week. It's just a buildup. Get some sleep, you'll be back to normal.
Kula put her hand under the soft pillow, pressing it against her head. The other one either cuddled Aleu, who tended to lie on her side, and sometimes, after turning in a half-sleep, was also under the pillow, and Kula began to hear the muffled beating of her heart in her ear.
- Thump. Thump. Thump... – she whispered half-asleep.
- Why are you mumbling? – Aleu asked quietly in response.
- I hear my heart pounding. Sometimes it keeps me awake. – the white fox mumbled back.
- Just calm down, don't think about anything. And that's a good sound, sister. It means you're alive.
«Sister? She called me sister...» – The thought made Kula smile slightly in her sleep, covering Aleu with her fluffy tail, and Jenna also licked the white one behind her ear gently.
In the middle of the night the husky quietly went out into the corridor, wanting to walk to the kitchen, to pour water or cold tea. Apparently, she had had time to rest during the day, or she was thrown out of sleep again at the fourth hour. Either way, she was going to come back.
Only for a second she paused at the mirror, which was inserted in the closet door. Eh, the Latin phrase that time will swallow everything. Jenna gazed at the patches of hair, silvered with gray, not without bitter longing. «Old. But not useless yet» – the husky said to herself.
In the hallway, barely closing the door, she was almost nose to nose with BJ.
- Shalom. Cap called to say that… – the Brit started, but Jenna hissed angrily, putting a finger to her lips.
- Quiet, Kula's asleep. She's been tossing and turning half the night.
- Pardon me. – BJ said in a quieter voice. – Anyway, Strelka prepared the latest novelty for Kula. And said she's ready for a final inspection. G has already warned Martello, the «Tuscania» guys will arrange everything.
- Excellent. I'll tell Kula in the morning. – the husky nodded. As she was about to walk on, she stopped for a second and sniffed. – Do you smell like shower gel and lubricant?
- Just to get the smell off, I took a shower in the middle of the night. – the «burned» Brit replied, rolling his eyes.
The next morning, Jenna informed Kula that Strelka had returned to the mansion and was waiting for her. As if for a job interview, Kula, adjusting her scarf, went to see her right after breakfast.
The Arctic fox was no longer timid, but she was always on edge in Strelka's workshop because there was always something moving, buzzing, sparkling, or doing anything else. Just magic in metal, Kula would say.
This time was no exception. As soon as the Arctic fox crossed the threshold, a mechanical manipulator arm descended to her from the ceiling with a mechanical whirring sound, as if from a «How It Works» program. Splitting into two guides, it spread Kula's arms apart and began to mount something on her back, Kula could feel it. On her back, above her collarbones, there was something hard, like an armor plating, and metal ring-grips went from her shoulders to her elbow. Then the info-display turned on, and a holographic projector lit up. «Program of study: downloadable. Control program: loaded» – popped up on the screen, above two filling load indicators.
When the manipulator finally released the anxious Arctic fox, Kula felt a strange tension and a muffled, barely audible buzzing, like a garland being turned on. Spreading her arms out to the sides, she widened her eyes at the sight of real wings: from shoulder to back there was a special hard fabric from which golden-white «feathers» of pure energy**** protruded as if in a semicircle. In addition, Kula felt like she was being pulled upward. She lowered her arms, and the wings disappeared. She raised her arms and the wings reappeared.
- Don't let the system update bother you. – said Strelka, who entered the workshop and took off her goggles. – It's the prototype for me and Gia's energy wings. Project «Mockingbird». You'll need it for the test. – She hopped onto the desk, her paws overhanging the edge. – And I'm sorry about the shock. I didn't think you'd wear it yourself.
- If you'd told me what I needed, I would have worn it. – Kula exhaled, slowly coming back to reality. She never looked so delighted, even when she was given a knife or an encyclopedia of weapons. – «Mockingbird»? Holy sh*t! I'm surprised again, I like it. Maybe I should change my name to Bobby Morse?
Immediately the workshop was filled with gleeful laughter. It was half a joke, but Strelka understood it.
- Depends on what kind of morsel. Cranberry or sea buckthorn? Haha!
- Thanks for reminding me. I've been meaning to try sea buckthorn morsels, if they have them here.
- Off you go, White Heart. You'll probably have to relocate tomorrow.
- Yes, ma'am.
***
Dolomites, Northern Italy
- That was faster than expected. – checking his watch, Balto sighed, squinting at the abundance of light reflecting off the snow.
- Great. What now? – Kula asked, unbuttoning her light jacket to pull a water bottle from the inside pocket.
- Waiting, I suppose.
Waiting, then. The fox shrugged, took another sip of the cold water, and simply looked around. The Dolomites seemed to fascinate her. From the base of the mountains, the masses of pines that covered them seemed grayish-blue, and the stone that formed the mountains seemed lead-gray. And everywhere on the peaks and slopes was snow that on the cold highlands hardly ever melted. It sparkled in the sun, which often made one squint. Kula thought with irony that she should have brought sunglasses.
She had a light outfit: a belt with a knife and pistol, energy wings, and an electric gun with a lasso. If this was the test, it was almost done. The ascent was done, the checkpoint - the temporarily closed ski lodge - had been reached, now they just had to wait for their own on the Acclamator. But there was bound to be a catch...
The sound, similar to the whirring of a motorboat engine, grew louder and louder, and the echo made it hard to tell where it was coming from. Then several snowmobiles appeared on a rise on the sunny side, and the figures in military dress sitting on them opened fire.
- Why am I always right! – shouted Kula, who had jumped out of her seat.
- Alarm! – Balto shouted.
The whole trio rushed to the nearest shelter, the substation booth. The snowmobiles began to move off the hill, and the machine gunners kept firing, the bullets whizzing over their heads and from all sides, raising small fountains of snow as they hit. Rolling up the sleeve of her jacket, Kula fired her electric gun. Shooting on the run, it's not always possible to aim accurately, but she hit the leg of the driver of one of the snowmobiles. Apparently, he had turned the steering wheel sharply, and the vehicle had rolled onto its side.
The Elites grabbed their guns, too.
- Is this for grade or credit? – Kula shot a glance at a few of the rushing arrows.
- Now is not the time! – Jenna snapped at her. – Whoever it is, we need to get away from them!
- I wish I knew how many of them there were... – Balto said angrily, changing his clip.
Remembering the rule of the last cartridge, Kula still reloaded her weapon when the last cartridge was still in the chamber, but if the enemy was in the line of fire while she was reloading, she used the stun gun. Some of the attackers dismounted, and the rest of the snowmobiles circled around the Ghosts' hideout and the cadet like a pack of wolves.
- I knew this would come in handy. – Realizing she had to change her position, Jenna pulled a smoke bomb and a matchbox from her belt. With the rubbing of the box, she lit the fuse and tossed the smoke bomb.
- To the next building! – the Elite commanded.
- I got an idea! I'll carry you! – Though Kula's thoughts went into stress mode, she did cling to one idea. Once the bomb had created a thick enough smoke screen, she took the Elites... under her arm. Balto in one arm, Jenna in the other. And then she ran as fast as she could toward the next building on the base. But the snow was a little harder to run on than hard ground.
- Whoa! That's original. – Balto shouted when Kula lowered them to the ground just outside the pavilion where the souvenir shops and eateries were located.
- Random. – Kula said.
She didn't notice it right away, but the pavilion was bright because of the glass roof. She was already subconsciously looking for ways to interact with her surroundings, because when more gunmen appeared on the second floor, Kula switched her electric gun and fired a pair of steel spokes into the roof. The glass cracked, and shrapnel rained down on the attackers, forcing them to lay down.
- Any thoughts on how to get out of here? – Balto said, looking for new targets.
Kula, who had moved behind the cash register, looked up. Before she had to duck again because of the bullets, she saw a snowmobile rushing by.
- What if we use their transportation? – she suggested.
- That's an option. – said Balto. – Tactical retreat, Kula!
- I know Ghosts aren't cowards, but survival is the priority.
Her heart was pounding like crazy, its pounding echoing in her temples. But something had to be done. Kula reloaded the stun gun and pulled the lasso from her belt before she got out from behind the counter.
- Hey, what are you doing?! – Jenna shouted as the white fox ran for the exit. Barely knocking down the doors, Kula started running in zigzags, keeping her aim low. She chose the closest of the snowmobiles and began to spin the harness over her head, trotting from side to side. Solomon's lessons had clearly not gone to waste. Kula threw the loop forward, just at the point where the snowmobile was a second later, and immediately dragged the driver from his seat. She stunned another one with an electro-dart from the stun gun.
The second one was thrown by Balto, which gave everyone a chance to run to the snowmobiles. Getting behind the wheel, Kula shuddered as she remembered that she had only driven something like this in the simulator. In the simulator, they were mostly practicing room assaults. She frantically searched her mind for anything on the subject of driving vehicles.
- Can you handle it? – Balto asked over the infolink.
- In theory, yes. – Kula replied, clutching the handlebars. – As they say, we'll find out now.
Gas lever on the right, brake on the left. It seemed simple, but in reality she couldn't stop panicking. She had been trained for such situations, but her nerves were still «sparking».
For the same reason, Kula stepped on the gas and almost fell out of her seat, but she held on and gripped the handlebars tighter. She looked for signs of snowmobiles, then turned to where the automatons had come from and increased the throttle.
- «Ghost-4-1» to all: we have an unscheduled situation, we're under fire! – Balto tuned in to the general channel. – We're moving on an enemy transport to point «Red»! We could use some help!
- «4-1», this is «4-4», roger that. – Kodi came on the line. – We're two minutes from point «Red», coming your way on a quinjet.
- Copy that.
When the relatively straight section turned into a gentle descent, Kula's snowmobile flew a little forward over the ground by inertia, plummeting when it touched the ground. Her hands involuntarily jerked the handlebars to the sides, the snowmobile began to wiggle, and Kula had to constantly level herself. As they said in a movie, no one is ready for that.
- Enemy from behind! – Jenna's shout in the infolink's earpiece almost made the ears pop. – Break off!
Glancing to the left, Kula spotted a snowmobile approaching with the same automatons. There was nothing left to do but steer with one hand. «How stressful, chingados...» – thought the fox. She took one hand off the handlebars, put it on the holster, and drew her pistol, pulling the trigger twice. She couldn't see where the bullets hit, but the snowmobile with the machine gunners turned away and into the snowy bushes.
But Kula herself almost lost control when the right side of the snowmobile hit a rock protruding from the ground and tilted to the opposite side. As soon as it was back to normal again, the fox squeaked involuntarily at the danger of coming dangerously close to a tree, whose branches slashed at the windshield.
And the road (or rather direction) went lower again, the snowmobile was thrown down once more, and there were more trees in the way. Turning left, Kula eased her finger on the throttle to maneuver between the trees more easily. She didn't have tactical glasses with a marker for the right direction, so she had to follow the Elites' directions via infolink.
Two more snowmobiles appeared on her left hand, and Kula turned right on reflex, entering the slope. She drove almost upright for a dozen meters until she came to a straight stretch again. The sensation of traveling at high speed brought both drive and a hard-to-control tension throughout her body. When you run at peak speed, it's one thing to be in perfect control of your body, but it's another when you're driving a vehicle that's much harder to operate. There was a higher chance of crashing into something.
One of the snowmobiles lurched forward, and the field of view was partially blocked by the snow it was lifting. So Kula's heart twitched when the ground abruptly disappeared again, and then felt another jolt. Her fingers were on the throttle lever, so the snowmobile continued at full speed. All Kula could see was a cabin that she passed at full speed.
Something whistled overhead, leaving a plume behind it, most likely a rocket-propelled grenade that hit a pine tree, which was snapped in two. The trunk fell directly in Kula's direction of travel. She swerved to the right, almost immediately turning the handlebars in the opposite direction, as if «rounding» the obstacle.
The next time the trigger was pressed, the bolt froze on the bolt hold, and no hollow click could be heard over the roar of the motor. Out of ammunition. And then there was another bump in the road. Kula almost panicked, afraid that she would fall off the seat again and that she would drop the gun.
His arm was already straightened, and the fox simply turned it, aiming the electric dart. But there was one last dart left. There were only three darts in the clip for the wrist-mounted electric pistol. Yay! The third one seemed to hit the engine cover of the enemy's snowmobile. The engine smoked, and the snowmobile turned sharply to the side.
In all this confusion, however, Kula was slowly getting used to the controls. She turned left again, as instructed by the infolink, and steered the snowmobile further to where two rocks formed a gorge-like passageway. Easing off the throttle again to avoid hitting the rocks, Kula turned right, trying to stay in the center of the road. Ahead, a fallen tree connected the opposite sides of the passage, so there were many large branches down below. And rocks. Kula came dangerously close to one of them, and the snowmobile skidded sideways over it. The terrible rumble almost turned the veins and arteries in the fox's body into icy streams, and she immediately steered to the side, leveling off.
It was amazing how she managed to keep her composure without starting to swear out loud. Maneuvering through the gorge like a snake, the road began to climb upward. Stump! «Piz... no! - In time to spot it, Kula turned away, then still had to yank backwards to keep from slamming into the rock. - No, Dzhigurda!». Apparently, the subconscious «planted» the example of Arno Frost with his manner of veiled language.
As suddenly as the machine gunners had attacked, the pursuit turned into a vertical race. On a rise, Kula jammed the throttle lever with her index finger. The snowmobile flew forward at full throttle, overcoming the rise and a narrow strip of flat ground. But then the flat section abruptly broke into an extremely steep descent, almost a kilometer long. The slope was almost forty-five degrees, and Kula thought for a second that she was falling. The white fox squirmed in the seat, feeling like she was on the most extreme roller coaster.
The snowmobile seemed to accelerate two or three times faster due to the downward motion. And there were trees ahead! When the snowmobile passed them, it was as if a short «Ffum!» was heard. Kula tried to jerk the handlebars as little as possible for fear of losing control.
As she looked ahead, she was almost dumbfounded by a new surge of fear. After about six hundred meters, the road ended in a cliff. There were no other directions to the opposite side of the crevice in the rocks. «Are you nuts! I don't want to live a life of lawlessness and stunting yet!» – Kula was internally ready to scream in panic.
But the Acclamator was waiting for them on the other side. Balto, who was behind Kula with Jenna, took that into account and got in touch with his frightened ward.
- Kula, there's no time, so listen carefully! – he spoke in a high-pitched tone to overpower the other noises. – Don't slow down, you hear me! Keep going straight, and when we say so, push off the snowmobile and jump up!
- What if it doesn't work?!
- Well, we're about to find out.
When life is on the line, time seems to slow down. For Kula, the world sometimes froze when she pushed herself to her limits. But the same effect was working now. The cliff was getting closer, but it seemed slower than it really was. Meter by meter, she was approaching the precipice, absolutely still in her seat.
The hard surface broke sharply, but the snowmobile was carried forward by inertia as if nothing had changed. The opposite end of the crevasse, and the silhouette of the Acclamator, were getting closer and closer. There was no time to assess whether the snowmobile would reach the other side. Like thunder, a single command sounded: «Come on!».
Letting go of the handlebars, Kula first moved her feet from the footrests to the seat itself, inhaled, and, putting all her strength into her leg muscles, straightened up like a charged spring. Already pushing off from her transportation, she straightened her arms sharply. There was a crackling sound of tearing matter - the energy wings cut through the jacket, and the low thrust was activated.
Everything was happening incredibly fast, as if in fast-forward. The Acclamator was hovering above the ground with its hover engines engaged and its rear ramp open. And Kula was approaching it.
- Bro, a degree lower! – commanded Aleu standing at the ramp.
The quinjet lifted its nose only slightly upward, but it was enough for Kula, who had her arms stretched forward, to catch the edge of the ramp. Kula's legs and body were still moving forward by inertia, but her palms were already firmly grasped, so Kula «spun» like a pendulum, her feet hitting the bottom of the quinjet. Aleu rushed to the edge at the same instant, helped Kula up and dragged her into the landing bay.
The ramp didn't close immediately, because two taut cables slammed into the ceiling. Balto and Jenna flew into the compartment with the help of hook guns and glider-cloaks.
- Close it. – Aleu said briefly into the radio.
The apparatus closed, the bay lights came on, and the quinjet set a course for the nearest Ghost base.
The landing bay was filled with the cheers of the Elites. Such a tactical retreat would go down in the books, they shouted. But not Kula - she trudged up to the recliner with wide eyes. She was shivering.
- Hey, heroine! – Aleu poked her in the shoulder. – Are you even alive?
- I guess... I guess so... – the fox was struggling to find words, pulling scraps of phrases out of her still stressed mind. – Alive, unharmed, eagle.
Aleu almost burst out laughing. She's joking, so she's fine.
- For heaven's sake, – Kula found the strength to smirk and giggle nervously and held up a finger. – next time, you should warn me about these tests. I'll at least bring a construction cart.
- Who taught her that? – Jenna shook her head.
- It's time to lay the cards on the table. – Balto announced, taking off his cloak.
He sat on Kula's left side, and Aleu sat on the floor in front of her.
- Consider that you have gone through exercises in conditions close to combat. They were organized by our old colleagues, a unit from the 1st Tuscania Parachute Regiment. Gia served there for a while, and now we often work with them.
- Wait, our allies, you mean? – a nervous Kula was now trying to digest what she had just heard. – I was shooting at them! Am I going to be court-martialed?!!
- Hush, my snowy sister. – Aleu swung her paws downward twice. – We've thought of everything, so calmadamente.
- Logically, that should mean «be cool».
- Yes. Mom switched your bullets for blanks, you'd hardly kill anyone with them, and the Tuscania guys always wear high-level body armor, so the risk is minimal. They were firing non-combat rounds at you, too, by the way. It's training, after all.
- And here I was thinking: a blind Chinese monk can rattle a stool with a screw, and those masked showmen from the assault screws didn't scratch us.
- Yeah, you've got a lot of nerve generating such big phrases.
- I won't be able to sleep tonight. – Kula leaned back and closed her eyes.
Balto's infolink blinked blue, and the wolf-dog immediately turned on his info-display. One glance was enough to know that all the news was good.
- They want to talk to you, heroine. – he smiled.
Kula opened her eyes, but her earpiece beeped. Fixing the sleeve of her torn jacket, she turned on the projector display, which immediately generated a hologram of Belka.
- Kula, you've amazed us all. – she said in a complimentary manner. – Now that's what I call impromptu. You took a turn on the mountain road, we had to change the plan. You should really be a stuntwoman.
- I have the nerve to interrupt you, but I only need two things. – Kula interrupted her with a smile from ear to ear, almost recovering from her trembling. – First of all, a change of underwear. Because I'm not sure if this roller coaster ride was for the faint of heart. - she drew quotation marks with her fingers.
- Holy crap...
- And secondly, a double meal from «Saba» or KFC when you get home. I don't care if it's unhealthy, just lunch from those places. I won't settle for anything less. I mean, these rides are a total mind blower.
- We just have a different stress test for everyone. – Belka explained. – We haven't had two of the same kind yet.
- Tell me my «credit», lack of casualties, and lunch guarantee isn't all the good news. – Kula exhaled. – And I apologize if anything, I'm just not fully recovered from the shaking yet.
- I forgive you. And you're right. – Belka tilted her head slightly, and her tone became mysterious for a moment. She pulled from her pocket a chain of tokens and held them out in front of her. On the hologram of the pocket projector, they were too small to read. But Kula's intuition was right: they were her tokens. Ghost tokens.
- You're one step away from them, Kula. I think you're ready for a grown-up job.
