“Put those papers down, and come help me get ready!” Miro called from the kitchen. Vikenti sighed through his headache and shoved a folder back into his bag. Miro hated when he brought work home with him. He disliked it almost as much as Vikenti not working at all. There was no easy middle with him.
Things had gotten very complicated in the past few days, and Vikenti was struggling to keep up. Every Spetsgruppa in the Prizrak Rytsarya was putting in their bid to be the team that rescued Captain Mikhail Shashenka Sima from fifteen years of captivity. Their hero was back from the dead and need their help. Whatever captain brought him home would be immortal, forever in named in the history books. He would likely be the next director of the Prizrak Rytsarya, and the temptation was great. And as repayment of the many favors he’d so recently asked of Director Kaminski, Major Vikenti Kozlov was put in charge of giving the order for Captain Sima’s rescue.
That honor should have gone to the Spetsgruppa Drakon Pushki. It was Viktoriya – and Viktoriya alone that believed Mischa was still alive. She put her career on the line for this assignment, she should be reaping the rewards. But she was still on her maternity leave, and likely wouldn’t be called back early for a mission that might risk her life. And then there was the bigger argument: There was no Drakon Pushki. Viktoriya had no team. Three men had left when she set them on the path to find Mischa. Gregori had been removed after Eli’s shooting. Vikenti was removed when he revealed himself as a major. Even her contracted consultant was gone, though that was a happier ending. So in the absence of one Spetsgruppa calling clear jurisdiction, there was a frenzy.
Though everyone had the same goal, every Spetsgruppa captain had their own petition – their plea to Kaminski as to why their team over all others should be given the order. Though there were few majors among their ranks, their captains were numerous, and every year their officer’s school turned out more. There were hundreds of young men and women hungry for a command, and limited need. It was easy to be lost in the massive organization, overlooked for promotion or assignment, or even worse, replaced by a new more ambition version of yourself. The easiest way to get noticed by the director and his council was to make your team stand for something. So many young captains were the champions of some cause or another. His own sister had made her name slaying the enemies of women’s and children’s rights.
It was no surprise to see her name on the petition. Everyone had read Yuri Utkin’s account of captivity. They knew the conditions he was kept in, and the horrors he had suffered. Natassia had likely started filing paper work the moment she read the word rape. But he knew how his sister handled sex crimes. There wouldn’t be anyone to bring to trial. Natassia tended to play judge, jury and executioner at once. It was the main reason Kaminski wanted her to be part of Vikenti’s outreach program.
Most captains had a point, but none of them seemed to be clear front runners. One captain was skilled at extractions, another was frequently stationed outside of the country. Yet another, had trained with Mischa – but age was not on his side. There was a captain who had been captured himself, albeit for much shorter time, but resented it none-the-less. Many were naked power grabs, thinly veiled nationalist or Prizrak-pride rhetoric to cover plain and simple ambition. One of the men to leave the Drakon Pushki had made captain and had the audacity to claim he would supporting Viktoriya’s goals.
It was strange having Miro home before midnight. He’d taken a rare night off from the restaurant. Of course it wasn’t a romantic affair. He’d stayed home so he and Vikenti could babysit their goddaughter, Nikola. Vikenti loved Nikola and her parents, but this couldn’t have come at a worse time. But this seemed to mean a lot to Miro. He’d been home all day, baby-proofing the apartment. Eli had promised that Nikola would come everything she needed, but that didn’t stop Miro from spending his day in a store, shopping like they had when Nikola had first come home from the east. They had a miniature nursery in their living room.
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Looking For The Light (Book 2)
МистикаElijah's life has been thrown for a loop. His girlfriend left him, he's leaving his home behind, and setting off into the unknown. Doubting his mission and himself, the young telepath struggles with many of the great questions of life.
