Volume 2, Chapter 2 – Motivation and a New Home
I opened my eyes. We were sitting in some kind of plane, in comfortable chairs with champagne on the tables, and in the nose, a bunch of faceless Soldiers were sitting at various computers.
I got up from my chair and looked around. None of the officers were in the cabin.
"Aviana!" I called out into the air with excitement.
Aviana appeared before me. Still the same cold and uninterested in conversation.
I hugged her. Tightly. Very tightly. As if she was my wife whom I'd lost. As if she was my daughter who had died. As if she was someone who needed a hug. I held her tightly, squeezing her fragile body in her double-breasted jacket, while she just kept her arms straight at her sides in the vast cabin. I didn't hold back my tears. After all, I had just died for the second time, and I didn't have the strength to hold it in — the main thing was that she was alive. Thank God. Thank everything that helped in this embrace. I was hugging someone who had died and bled out at my feet, and I didn't care about propriety — the main thing was that she was alive.
"I have three questions. Where did we get the Boeing E-4B Nightwatch. Why is it under Lelik's control. And why do I feel from you that I was dead?" she asked, not pulling away, almost intimately, in my ear. Not because she wanted to whisper, but because I was hugging her so tightly.
I wiped my tears. Still the same. Cold.
"Because God gave it to us. And Lelik is AA. Since this thing wouldn't fit on your carrier, and you... died. Right at my feet," I didn't want to hide it and told her everything as it was. Why lie to someone you'll spend your whole life with? And I simply can't lie to someone I recently lost and who suddenly appeared again — it's impossible. No one would make it worse; on the contrary, they'd tell everything as it is.
"So," she pushed me away easily with her palm. "I am not an emotional person. I have no need to conduct this dialogue with tears and the pomp of return. I am a function. If you need something from me, I will help. But right now, this is turning into a farce that I don't need at all. I don't want and don't understand your compassion. If you want emotional support, talk to yourself or to a human," Aviana answered coldly and very painfully.
That was what I needed. Thank her. For that. Perhaps I'll never hear such long speeches from her again, but I am grateful to both her and GOD. Let Aviana live in the paradise corner that GOD created in their "pocket." Even if we never cross paths — I'll be happy. Why take risks when you can send all the officers to enjoy life in the "pocket"?
"How long is the flight?"
"Five hours."
"Good. You can rest. Tha—..." and she disappeared before I could finish.
I sighed and made a decision. To depend less on the officers, I need to become stronger myself. I started running at maximum from the tail to the nose of the plane, without rest. If I got tired — push-ups. Can't do push-ups?! — squats. Fall from squats — run. And I ran, trained in this empty (partly) plane — in the nose, there were still Soldier-functions, but I didn't pay attention to them. I just wanted to become stronger, and I will do it. I will become someone who doesn't need protection, who can handle everything themselves, and who will create a place in this world where all officers can live peacefully. I will become stronger in both spirit and mind. I will exercise for them, I will read books for them, I will learn the language for them. And it's important to me that everyone stays alive, and even though I'm sweaty and it's hard right now, I understand that this will help everyone in the future — so I don't give up, and I do lap after lap. Push-ups, and only faith in myself and the belief that I can do it made me do all of this in this plane non-stop for three hours.
—
Three hours later, I just passed out on the floor, on the stairs between decks. I was completely exhausted and just collapsed wherever there was a surface for my head (in this case, a step), and that was it. I don't know how long I slept. I have no idea what happened during that time. I was only nudged by Paladin, and I jerked — either from fear or from some dream I don't remember — and backed toward the cockpit, where I saw bright sunlight.
What happened? Who is it? What's going on? Where am I?
"WHO ARE YOU?" I shouted in fright toward Paladin, gasping with fear.
"Paladin, obviously," he barely squeezed into the cockpit passage.
Hoo-oo-oh...
Right... I completely forgot everything... I thought I was lying in my bed dying... But I'm here, among them.
I tried to get up, but my legs didn't agree, and I couldn't stand. Looks like I pushed my body to its limit last night.
I grabbed onto a chair and pulled myself up on trembling legs, and outside the window was blue sky with clouds below.
"When do we arrive?" I asked, looking at the landscapes with interest.
"We've been here for an hour already. The problem was preparing the territory. And now Lelik will take you down to the ground," Paladin said calmly.
"Interesting. How?"
"Bro, easy peasy!" Lelik shouted, getting up from the controls. There was just a faceless one there a moment ago, how did he... Anyway, never mind.
"I'll just..." — Snap — the faceless one suddenly pushed the yoke away from himself, and I was thrown toward the tail, but thankfully Paladin was at the entrance to the cockpit and caught me.
"What? We're falling!" I shouted, seeing the ground instead of clouds.
"Bro! Just... descending to change equipment — helicopters aren't built for thin air," Lelik said cheerfully, sitting on top of various instruments in front of the windshield.
(Just descending... Really? That's all? I've only seen angles like this in apocalypse movies — never seen a doomsday plane do a nosedive just to change form. And ignoring that everything not bolted down was flying toward the tail: champagne bottles, cushions, tablets — all flew off, mixing into a mess.)
Snap.
Sharp sounds hit my ears from above, and fresh air hit my face. I was standing on the side of an Apache, right at the edge of the open door — Paladin was holding me back from falling and from the shock to my legs. But that didn't stop the deafening sounds and vibrations throughout my body, making my teeth chatter involuntarily.
[Lelik: Base. Lelik, requesting cover.]
[Base: Lelik. Approved.] And fighters flew in from both sides, constantly releasing flares, completely blocking the view, and the explosions tore into my ears, making my stomach rise higher, and my eyes instantly close from the airflow and the sharp smell.
Below, I saw an endless arid territory, where the ground was cracked and there was no one around. Only in the distance, barely visible, were oases and many holes in the ground.
And beneath me was a small area enclosed in a HESCO box, with dozens of tents inside, and Bradleys and tanks constantly moving around, every corner guarded, a Patriot SAM system in the center and M-SHORAD in the corners.
And the most important thing I felt as soon as I got "used" to the Apache — the air. It was heavy, hot. I hadn't even stepped onto the ground yet, but I already felt I'd burn up without the blades above me.
And so we landed at the fort entrance. Instantly, the IB Officer appeared and deployed his Soldier-functions (650 soldiers) around the entire perimeter, and the tanks scrambled, forming a wall around the helicopter — and a quiet "bloop" sounded as a ring of smoke slowly appeared.
The helicopter touched the ground softly and fell silent, then all the tanks turned off, and the silence I so desperately needed finally came.