After leaving the Vice Governor's office, Yakup didn't linger long and went straight home. The cleaners had already cleaned the body, returning it to the state it was in a few hours ago. After leaving the documents on the table, Yakup went to Leyla's crib to check on her.
After leaving the documents on the table, he quietly went to Leyla's room. When he reached the crib, he saw her. The little girl was wrapped in her white quilt, sleeping peacefully like an angel. Her breath was full of peace like a spring breeze.
Yakup could not resist the flood of love rising within him. He bent down and took a long look at Leyla's delicate face. She was so small, so innocent... He found it difficult to hold back his tears. He bent his head and stroked her hair softly.
"I won't let you grow up without a mother," he said in a low voice.
The little girl turned her face slightly to the side, as if she was smiling in her dream. Yakup smiled slightly.
Before he became a father, he could never have imagined that he could harbor such a great love inside him. But now, looking at Leyla, he knew that this love had no limits. He was no longer living for himself.
---
A week later, unknown territory in the Mediterranean.
When the island rising in the middle of the gray waters appeared on the horizon, a slight uneasiness appeared in Yakup's heart. This lonely piece of land in the middle of the vast sea looked as if it did not belong on any map. The island was surrounded by a curtain of cold fog, as if it was a land cut off from the outside world, operating by its own laws.
Göktuğ Kandemir was silent at the wheel. As the small, rusty motorboat moved slowly through the waves, Yakup couldn't help but look around. The sea merged with the gloomy grayness of the sky. The horizon looked like a thin knife cutting the world in two.
"Is that it?" Yakup asked, pointing to the island.
"Yes," said Göktuğ. "All the buffer zones in the Eastern Bloc are the main investors in the Prometheus Project. Only three of us were selected for this project. Each of them is an active duty officer or non-commissioned officer. You will find it difficult to compete with them. There will also be professional soldiers from Moscow Province. Some of them are Gatekeepers who took part in the Moscow Raid a few years ago."
"Do you realize what kind of place you're sending me to?"
The Gatekeepers were soldiers with the minimum rank of captain in the military hierarchy. Their main duty was to guard the gates to Paradise, such as the Akdoğan Gate. Biogenetically, they were only one rank lower than the Hunters.
"No doubt it will be a very difficult training. The researchers say that only 10% of the candidates will make it to the end of the training. You will be trained by the most elite and talented. Trust me, you are Ali Cemil's grandson."
Yakup was disheartened to hear that the people coming from Moscow and other buffer zones had military backgrounds. Still, if he wanted to reach his wife and give his child a good future, he had to put up with this much.
As the boat approached the shore of the island, a group of soldiers greeted them. Looking at their fierce faces, Yakup realized that they were the group from Moscow. It would be wrong to say that he did not flinch a little when he saw the ranks on their epaulettes.
Questions like "What am I doing here?" were running through his mind.
"General Kandemir," the old man who seemed to be the leader of the group shook the Vice Governor's hand. Judging by the epaulettes on his shoulder, the old man also held the rank of General.
"General Zhukov, it's been a long time."
Göktuğ gave General Zhukov a sincere hug. The friendship between the two surprised both the group and Yakup.
With the establishment of the United World Government, a clear boundary had been drawn between Paradion and the buffer zones. As Paradion isolated itself from the world, cultural exchange between the buffer zones peaked and the buffer zones were united under a single roof. Especially the eastern bloc, which differed from the western bloc with its traditionalism, was conducting many military operations together.
This included the Prometheus Project. No region from the western bloc was involved in this project.
"Young men," General Zhukov said to the group behind him. "I would like you to meet my dear friend, General Kandemir. The information he provided us during the Moscow Raid not only saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of our citizens, but also minimized the damage by providing housing for many of them in his native Ankara."
"I have to wait here too long, brother, our friends from Kyoto and Beijing might get jealous."
"Hahahaha!"
General Zhukov took the arm of the Vice Governor and started chatting. Yakup, who had stayed behind, approached the group at a run. He was particularly attracted to the trio who were obviously candidates. They were almost two meters tall, their arms and legs as thick as tree trunks. Their faces were like statues.
They came as two captains and a first lieutenant. Their ages ranged from 23 to 25. He could smell the odor of blood and steel emanating from their bodies.
After the group climbed in pairs up a staircase from the beach to the island, the structure of the island was revealed. There were several buildings erected in the center of the island, as well as runways for helicopter landings. Used solely as a training ground, the island was a medium-sized, isolated piece of land surrounded by calm but deep water.
Yakup looked at the large group of people on the island's training ground. There were exactly 244 people and a group of instructors. As soon as General Zhukov and Göktuğ saw the group, they paused and turned around.
"We can only go this far with you," General Zhukov said, "The resources spent on this project are incalculable. If you want to give up, you know what to do. Go up to the bell tower, ring the bell three times, put down your hat and leave at any time."
"Yes, sir!"
While General Zhukov was having a private conversation with his candidates, Göktuğ came to Yakup's side. Unlike General Zhukov, he did not give a motivational speech or inform Yakup about the training.
"You don't have to worry about Leyla. She will be well protected and I will make sure you see her every week."
"Thank you, 'General'."
Göktuğ rolled his eyes.
"Don't make me regret sending you here."
Göktuğ did not linger any longer. Without saying goodbye, he turned around and walked arm in arm with General Zhukov to the beach. Yakup followed the candidates General Zhukov had brought. As soon as they mingled with the crowd, the trio disappeared, leaving Yakup alone.
"Did they stand me up?"
He sighed deeply and looked around. The trainers were bringing wooden boxes and packaged clothes in several pickup trucks. In the crowd, candidates from the same region were already talking among themselves.
Yakup scanned the stony terrain glistening in the sun, looking for familiar faces. The silence of the island mingled with the rustle of dust as the wind blew it across the stones. Then, among a group of strangers, he saw two people who caught his attention. From their clothes and posture, he immediately realized that they were from his region. Göktuğ had said that besides Ankara, there would be one candidate each from Istanbul and Hatay provinces. It seemed that those two people were standing right in front of him.
The first one was a man with a stern look and a perfect soldier's stance with his neat boots. His physique and military demeanor, which still preserved the lines of his uniform, gave away that he was a lieutenant graduated from the Military Academy. The other had a different air; with his sunburnt skin and thick arms, he was clearly a commando from the Hatay Commando Brigade. When they both turned to Yakup, there was clear curiosity and suspicion in their eyes.
Yakup cleared his throat slightly, his voice dry in the hot air, but he saluted anyway.
"Peace be with you."
After a brief exchange of glances, the two responded at the same time.
"Peace be with you."
The lieutenant looked Yakup up and down. There was a mocking gleam in his eyes and a condescending smile on his lips.
"Which unit are you from?" he asked, the questioning tone in his voice unnerving.
Yakup replied, keeping his composure.
"Not from any unit. I'm a civilian."
The commando raised his eyebrows slightly, then turned to the other and shrugged with a small smile.
"Civilian, huh? You've got a favor."
The lieutenant studied Yakup a little more. He didn't need to hide his mocking gaze.
"I don't think you will last long here. This place is for 'real' men."
Yakup ignored the sneers. Unlike them, he was not a soldier, but that was no reason for him to lag behind the others. He may not have had military training, but if Göktuğ had sent him here, he trusted him. If even a man like Göktuğ trusted him, he had no reason to doubt himself.
So he spoke in a relaxed but firm manner.
"Really? We'll see."
The lieutenant smiled and turned his head toward the instructor who had climbed onto the truck. Yakup and every candidate in the crowd was looking at the instructor in the same way.
"Everyone get in line."