Children's Games: A Story of Modern Consequence

Chapter 11

~Dominik~

Dominik sat straight backed at the desk and watched hologram after hologram of Konstantin's numerous messages. He picked at his fingernails as he watched the sixty-five-year-old man's body transition from a proud strong man with a puffed chest, to someone with dark circles around his eyes and thin lips stuck in a straight line. Power still pushed his shoulders back, but he had aged significantly in the time between the first hologram message and the most recent.

He watched the transmission they had received from their trip up to the top. They had a hidden satellite in an old bakery chimney and checked it for news every day. Usually, their findings would be revealed at dinner the same day, but Dominik wasn't sure if this was something that he should share.

"Unit 352. Dominik Volkov, I am speaking to you. Special circumstances have led me to contact you again. There are twelve days left, but there has been a new devastation in Khasan. A new variant of TB84 has surfaced there, with some reports saying that it's originated in North Korea. Our alliance with them is wavering, and it'll be your job to secure Natasha if it comes to war with us. They've housed two of their thermonuclear bombs in our arsenal in Kozelsk, and many of my subordinates fear an attack so close to Moscow if they have their way.

"Now, before the end of the mission, I now need reassurances of what you're achieving down there. Every day, I expect to be sent a run-down of what has been done. Our other units are failing because not all of them have the second group like you. So use them, get to know the culture and the people because we may need to reposition your unit upon success to pick up where others have failed. Now, in these reports, I do not want to hear about your failures. Only how you fix them. Otherwise, your next mission will see that Yelena is in charge instead. Do not disappoint me again."

Konstantin trailed for a few minutes about the fragility of swapping Maria and Katerina, and the dangers of using Katerina after the mishap that was her memories. The private message on the USB was a report that outlined Katerina's circumstances and purpose in the mission, something he was having trouble getting his head around.

"She was on the way over when the current memory alterations were failing, to the point where she was able to put most of the pieces together. She cut from her harness and managed to kill a pilot and a medic and broke the shoulders of the second in command. Mikhail, your second replacement, was apparently a sympathiser, rushed to her aid but was discarded of immediately. The rest of the team she was with were dropped off at a smaller camp at Cave Hill quarry in Victoria. They are already questioning her outburst and had to be put down. Don't let it happen there, because at the end of the day we need that cure, and she might be the only way to get it."

Dominik turned off the recording and leaned back in the chair. He was unable to get her off his mind. Was it the right thing to do? Was Maria that much of a threat? He lay awake most nights since her death, thinking about whether he had overreacted. Visions of her orange hair, her bloody skin, and her starry eyes looking back at him, appeared in his mind.

Then there were memories of her girly giggle and fun laugh, but mostly her efficiency as a soldier with her immaculate intelligence. She would always aim for the neck, and never hesitate, which always made him admire her. Until the night that she aimed at him. However with her gun pressed into his chest, she hadn't shot. He hadn't decided if her death or her disposal was the worst part. He looked back at the armoury wing where Dmitri was surely sleeping.

"Good morning," Maria mused, leaning against the building. She had a glint in her eye that was difficult to ignore. "Slept in I see. I almost got away from you at last."