"H-hurgh.…"
"Oh… you are finally awake Major."
"M… Ma-major..?"
"Whoa… take it easy, Major… You are not exactly in the condition to move just yet…"
"Mmh..."
"It is okay… your state is not threatening anymore and you may also speak, but please do it slowly as to mind your current situation…"
"Ah… I… I cannot… feel… my left arm…"
"That is… due to the trauma that you experienced on the top of that spaceship…"
"I-is it… permanent?"
"It will recover, do not worry. Although, as far as we can tell it will take more than a year."
"Sigh…"
"I guess it is hard to swallow but… it is what it is…"
"How long… have I been-"
"Asleep? That uh…"
"How long?"
"Eight months…"
"….that means… I have so many… things to… catch up…"
"Well, Major… if there is anything else that you need-"
"Wait…"
"Yes?"
"Why… do you call… me Major…?"
"Oh, right… I forgot to tell you. You received a promotion, Major, together with Lieutenant Burners and 1st Lieutenant Ming. Commodore Quentin also received his by one rank. So, congratulations."
"So… two ranks…?"
"Yes, I believe…"
"And why… do I feel like… my left chest is… so heavy…?"
"…you were very lucky, Major… that is caused by a hole straight through your chest where normal people's hearts are located…"
"…must be because of… that beam spear…"
"No, wait! I would not touch that part of your chest if I were you."
"…."
"Whatever thing it was that made that hole went through your chest. That is why you currently cannot feel your left arm and your left chest feel heavy."
"I understand…"
"I am truly sorry, Major… but until you are completely recovered I am afraid that you may not let that parts of your body to get in contact with anything…"
"….I hope… it will not… take too long…"
.
.
.
The clattering sound coming from the rear hatch of the airplane wakes me up from my sleep. My body feels a slight chill and a little cold air breezes to my face as my eyes finally open wide. Back in Stuttgart, all 5 units departed by 3 airplanes and were expected to arrive at the Air Base after 16 hours of flying. We must have been flying for at least 11 hours now, meaning that we are currently at the skies of Barents Sea, and that we still have to fly for at least 5 more hours before we arrive at our destination. I also cannot see anything except for dark sky and perhaps a few light clouds from the windows.
Most of the men inside the plane are fast asleep with all their hands crossed against their chest, must be to keep their bodies warm. It is no surprise though, since even during the summer the average air temperature of the Barents Sea can still easily reach below 10oC, something uncommon for those who are not familiar with the climate of Russia, Norway, or the rest of the other countries around them. Colonel Pavlov is not in the same plane, but I am sure that he will not feel cold unlike many of the men sitting and sleeping across me.
"Hachoo!" someone sitting across me suddenly sneezed.
"Nē, son'nani ōgoe de kushami o shinaiyo!" Takeshi complained to another man to his left for sneezing pretty loud.
"Su-sumimasen!" the other man apologized.
I have not thought that there would be another Japanese military officer assigned as a field operative for this mission for another unit. He must belong to Bronze Falcon unit, since this plane brings personnel from Crimson Vulture, Bronze Falcon, and my unit, and also because I know for sure that there is no Japanese officer under Yeon's command. Even though he is not my direct subordinate, I may as well try to initiate some small talks to both of them in this opportunity.
"Daijobu desu. Sore wa anata no hana ga umaku kinō shite iru koto o imi shimasu." I told him that it is okay to sneeze since it tells you that your nose is working just fine as I smiled a little.
"Ho? Nihongo ga hanasemasuka, Major?" Takeshi has both his eyes lit up as he asked me if I can speak Japanese.
"Soudesu. Kōkō no toki, ni-nen han nihongo o benkyōshimashita." I replied him by saying that I studied it for 2 and half years back in high school.
"Sokka. JLPT shiken o ukemashita ka?" he got more excited as he asks me further if I took the JLPT test.
"Hai. N4 desu." I confirmed him, and say that I took the level N4.
"Narohodo… suzushīne." a wide smile was drawn across the other man's face, finally breaking the ice between us.
JLPT, short for 'Japanese Language Proficiency Test' is an official test run by the Japanese government to evaluate one's ability in delivering out Japanese language. Back when I was in high school, the proficiency level was divided into 5 categories – starting from N5 all the way up to N1. N4, which was the level that I took, confirms me to have a proficiency of Japanese language for most daily conversations. Level N1 on the other hand, confirms the holder to be fluent in the language up to the complex conversations.
"Mayor," Alek who is sitting several chairs away from Takeshi called me and also looking like he expects something from me, "can you also speak Russian?"
"Da, nemnogo." I nodded to him after pausing for a moment, saying that I do although only a little.
"Kogda ty etomu nauchilsya, Mayor?" he immediately had his head leaning a little more towards me, asking when I learned it.
"Gdynya, Pol'sha v 2030 godu. Russkikh soldat bylo togda bol'she, chem pol'skikh." I said that I learned it in Poland, and proceeds to explain to him that there were more Russian soldiers at the base where I was stationed back then. He is just nodding as I go on with my answer.
"Ah… tak vy byli prichastny k intsidentu 2030 goda?" he widened his eyes and raised one of his eyebrows, making sure if I was also involved in the Gdynia Kidnappings Incident 7 years ago.
"Da. Ya byl odnim iz nemnogikh, komu poschastlivilos' perezhit' eto ispytaniye." I nodded and confirmed that I was among the few men who were lucky enough to survive the ordeal.
"Wow, I am impressed." Takeshi laughed and seems to also begin blending within the conversation. "Is there any other language that you can speak, Major?"
"A few Indonesian, and some basic Polish too." I lifted my eyebrows a bit as I try to recall some few words of each of the languages in case some of them ask, but it turns out that they do not.
And just like that, Takeshi and the other man finally begin to open up about themselves as well. It is all the better when Alek enters the conversation and start to talk about himself too. There is no other Russian besides him inside the plane, but two other people which are both field operatives of the Bronze Falcon unit shortly join the chat, thus making it livelier.
Before I know it, the rest of the other people inside the plane begin to wake up and are quickly sunk in their conversation either with the person next to them, or in a group. What was then a silent and cold air slowly turns to a livelier mood. My eyes then meet with Dong's who is sitting pretty far across from my seat, on one of the end seat. He smiles and nods to me, must be acknowledging what I have intended to do from the start, before he himself then continue to talk with a man sitting across him.
'If only Flint is also in this plane…" I think to myself, imagining if it is better if Flint is also inside this plane.
I am quite satisfied with how the atmosphere inside the plane has changed, however I suddenly recall something that happened sometime in the past…
.
"Argh!"
"Beat it, Xavier! No one wants you here!"
"That is what you think!"
"Really? Then why is there so many people gathering around us here, yet none of them want to help you?"
"You can answer that yourself! You have either been constantly intimidating them or even hand them money to keep them from acting against you!"
"Oh? Excuse me? Are you, Jonathan Xavier… accusing me of two crimes without any evidence?"
"Tch, I am starting to get sick of all your classics…"
"And I…. am totally sick of your presence here… you worthless communist blood…"
"…"
"That is right… everyone around here knows about it… so you better be very, and I mean very… careful in choosing your words to me, unless you want my father to give you a sentence to a juvenile prison..."
"I believe that all these bruises are enough proofs of your violence towards me in the first place."
"Then good luck in getting a decent lawyer who is generous enough to defend a communist blood in this town, and pro-bono too for that matter."
"What!?"
"Oops, it must be hard for a guy to live only with his mother since his communist father left him the day he was born… hahahaha!"
"Shut up! J-just, go away…"
"NO! YOU GO! Who do you think you are!? You are the only minority here, scram!"
.
"Jon… I have told you times and again… why did not you come to me?"
"What good will it do, Miss? Even if you can convince the vice principal that there is something wrong with that guy, the principal herself will turn a deaf ear…"
"Sigh… at least you still have someone to talk to about it…"
"I will be fine. As long as my mother is not directly dragged into all this, I can just… shrug all this and man up for the next two years…"
"Okay… but please… consider what I have just said, Jon... for your own sake."
"Thank you, Miss… I appreciate it…"
.
The sound of the plane landing snaps me back to the current situation. As I was recalling my past all of a sudden for some reason, the rest of the 5 hours has passed and we have finally arrived at the Franz Josef Land Air Base. Cold air and gentle breeze of snow enter the plane, greeting us with a sense of chill as the rear hatch is opening, slowly revealing the still-dark skies of the edge of the northern part of the world yet illuminated by tens of bright lights on the airplane runway. A few men and 5 obsolete military trucks are already waiting as we step outside from the plane.
"Welcome to Franz Josef Land Air Base, gentlemen." said one of the men. "Please get inside the trucks to get to the main building, where the E.X.T.I.R.T operation will officially start."
The said main building is located on the northeast side of the island, and is just 500 meters away from the runway. I do not know about the others, but I can actually see the top of the main building just before I get on the back of the truck, although only for very faintly. The sight of the main building must be getting more vivid as the whole convoy gets closer to the building but I am not able to see anything since the back of the truck is covered by a soft top. Once we arrive right in front of the building, another man instructed us to follow them to the armory.
The overall appearance of the Air Base looks more like a dome when seen from the inside. I have previously expected that it may look something like a bunker shaped in a half sphere. The facility has 5 floors in total, and based on the Russian signs that we pass by as we continue to head inside, the 1st floor is where the cafeteria is located, with hospital and clinic, and armory on the 2nd and 3rd floor respectively while the 4th and 5th floor is where the command room and air traffic control is. For a few moments my eyes are locked on the sight of figures with decorated uniforms passing by back and forth near the windows of the 4th floor. Those people must be preparing the last steps for our deployment.
As soon as we get into the main lobby and then to the 2nd floor, there are already dozens of base troops lying on gurneys and their mouths connected to some sort of a liquid pack through a medical tube. Major Gavalas, the commander of the Bronze Falcon unit asks the man leading us to the armory what kind of the liquid inside the pack is.
The man says that those who have been experiencing vomiting have also lost a serious amount of sugar in their body, and so the liquid inside the pack is actually syrup with a little mixture of salt. He also mentions that the number of the people experiencing vomiting keeps on increasing since the first time it had started. Currently, nearly 30% of the total Air Base troops have begun experiencing vomiting after seeing the blood red aurora while they were out scouting on the neighboring islands. I guess it does not come as a surprise anymore when he reveals that all of the rooms inside both the hospital and clinic are full, and just like what I have imagined – almost everything we see on the 2nd floor are either ill soldiers, or medical personnel tending them.
"Are all compasses still spinning violently as well right now?" I want to make sure to the man.
"According to what all of the guys on the gurneys said, yes Major." he confirmed almost immediately. "The guys who went to the neighboring islands even said that their compasses were spinning so fast that they all even broke down."
"I have never heard or known that something can manipulate compass needles to that extreme." Yeon jumped in to the conversation.
"Then we are about to face something that can control the magnetic field on this whole archipelago on a very great extent…" I inhaled deeply.
I do not know about the rest of the other commanders or field operatives, but for myself, my greatest concern is that whether or not the magnetic field can manipulate the bullets that we may fire later on the field. It will be one thing if the magnetic field will only deflect the bullets to other direction, but what if it can somehow direct the bullets back to whoever fired them in the first place, or worse to someone else nearby? I just hope that it will not happen…