Chapter 45

A bubble was set up around the plane the way that they had done to the smaller vehicles in Sadieea. Necessity being the mother of invention proved true when hidden facts of both shield types came out. We could make a bubble like the one formed by our medallions and it had no Achilles heal in the form of an open bottom. One form of the shield even contained atmosphere as if it were intended for use in space. Another feature allowed selective permeability to specific gases. This made me think of the shields as a tool used by travelling beings as opposed to a device to be used in war.

Caiti was the focus and the other two assisted with all their strength. The shield formed after a moment. This was hard to do when the structure was so large. Usually the barrel of a machine gun and the exhaust pipe poked through the barrier the way they did for the APC's and the tanks. A grill had to be formed that was large enough to allow air in but not bullets or a howitzer shell. This time the shield had to be erected outside the protected object. To do this a pair of wristbands had to stay behind.

We had very little equipment. It was mostly our silver icons, chain and a rifles. The inter-world portal was back on the plane. We were coming at this blind and I relied on Vasiliy the way I did Mantoya and Artlam.

The stronghold was only ten klicks away but it was a lot more than that with the distance up and down we had to travel. The moon was full so we could see enough to get by. Soon we were moving down a road that was not much better than the mud we had been travelling through. The huts were closer and so were the dogs who put up a lot more noise. Nobody came out to investigate.

We began a gradual ascent of the mountain. At one time this area had a lead deposit but it had been worked out. Chingiz Beg had taken over this area and provided schools and medical aid along with food. The people loved him. He also bought local poppies to produce heroin that was destined for Moscow and other wealthy cities. Beg was into military hardware because he at one time was a general in the army and saw the value of a well trained and equipped army to protect his property.

Beg had seized the warheads from MIRV missiles in a daring raid. The Eighteen missiles were later destroyed. Each missile had seven re-entry vehicles rated at or near 350 kilotons each. He had sold four warheads to China. There was no explanation for this sale except to prove that Beg had what he said he had.

There was an uneasy truce now with Russia staying away and hoping to interdict the drugs and possibly get the warheads back somehow. The border had so many security gaps in it that only one drug shipment had been taken and that one had not belonged to Beg.

A field was in front of us with a low wall of stone. From reports, this area was mined. We all wore shields but a large mine could kill us with the shockwave. We stuck to the winding road instead.

Around one o'clock we heard a donkey coming from a small side road. We hurried up to where the roads met and waited. Three men came with two mules between them. All the men were armed with AKs like we had. They weren't expecting trouble. We jumped out at them and they didn't have a chance to get off a shot. I took one man and put my controls on him. Camsa and Porta did the same while the donkeys' packs were searched.

When the men awoke, Vasiliy had to work to gather information. All three men could speak Russian. We got a new appreciation for the mountain base. Beg had enlarged it to the point where he could survive a nuclear war. In fact, there was room for a small city within the mountain.

Two of the men were sent along with the donkeys. They knew less than a third of the base. These men would place coins for us near the locations Vasiliy asked them too. This was a military base but it was not that strict on internal security. Still, some areas were decidedly off limits. This included the area containing the unsold drugs, the armoury and the nuclear weapons storage area.

Porta called to us an hour later as the first of the coins was separated from the rest. It was hid in a crack in the rough rock walls of a corridor. The floor though was poured concrete. It was near three in the morning when the last of the coins was placed.

Vasiliy said, "Caiti, open a gate to the corridor near the nuclear vault."

She smiled at him and said, "Yes, Sir." The gate formed and Vasiliy sent two of his men through with Caiti.

"Porta, the armoury."

"Yes, Sir." She opened the gate and four men went through along with Porta.

"Camsa, the lab."

"Yes, Sir." The gate opened but this time it was inside the target. Three men hurried through as well as Camsa.

I stayed as a reserve and to communicate with Vasiliy. My job was not to lead here and I didn't mind giving up the responsibility to a military man, especially one as bright and talented as Vasiliy.

It was five minutes later that Caiti told me, "We're in the weapons locker." I repeated this to the interpreter and he spoke to Vasiliy.

Vasiliy asked, "Can you begin transport?"

I repeated the question and then nodded my head. Vasiliy said, "Proceed with caution."

Caiti used her chain to open a gate to the plane and she carried a warhead in each hand with the aid of two fulcrums. The men only provided security for her.

Camsa and his team had located flammable substances in the lab. Portia could not get near the stockpile of weapons so Camsa opened a gate to her so she could try from a new position.

All of a sudden we could hear the alarms going off and I could see soldiers running to their stations. Somehow we must have tripped an alarm. As per our orders, Porta and Camsa's groups left to assist Caiti.

I said, "What do you want to do?"

Vasiliy said, "It must be surveillance cameras."

The interpreter gave my words and Vasiliy thought for only a few seconds. "They will be going to the bombs. Let's slow them down."

This time all of us smiled. I chose a location and opened a gate. The sound of the alarm was a lot louder. We set up and fired at the first ones coming around the bend. I would have used the plasma but we would then be in the dark with the electrical system fried.

Vasiliy had us retreat to the surface, only to shift the gate to another area. We were hit by small arms fire immediately after leaving the gate. We continued this until I heard Porta say, "I got in the armoury. There are a lot of people coming at us. You better help."

Vasiliy learned of this and looked pissed. She was delegated with removing the nukes not guns.

We materialised at the entry point Porta had used. We were shot at by at least twenty people. We returned fire. Vasiliy walked forward with his men and just shot the soldiers. Only a few chose to run but they too were shot. There was more shooting going on and we ran to the next area. The hall was full of bodies and we could not get over them. The soldiers had tried to crawl over their own dead and had died as well.

We too climbed this mountain but after telling Porta of our intentions. In a moment we were in front of as large area that could accommodate transport trucks.

Vasiliy demanded, "What's the status of the bombs?"

I thought of Caiti and Camsa and then said to the interpreter, "The nukes are at the plane."

He didn't say anything but he raced into the armoury. There was more firing going on but it was sporadic.

Vasiliy said, "We have to destroy all of this."

I asked, "My plan with a nuke?"

He didn't need a translation and said, "Yes."

"Will it be contained?" I had the interpreter say this so there was no misunderstandings.

Vasiliy said, "It will be safe."

Caiti and Camsa were reinforcing Porta's team. They were using some of the captured weapons to do this. Camsa was tasked with gathering our silver equipment. Vasiliy had to go and inspect the bombs. There were a lot of them. As I started to count, Caiti said, "A hundred and twenty two."

"Thanks, Sweety."

Vasiliy chose a bomb and Caiti carried it back to the mountain. The rest of us went along because now we had to find the controls that would detonate the devices. Detonation was a simple process but a lot of devices were added to the bomb to make it tricky. A partial detonation was the most likely and this would just scatter the radioactive material for a few hundred metres.

We used coins and our senses to find the stolen control panels. They were actually in a room behind the armoury. The panel was taken to the bomb in the lowest area of the base. Where Vasiliy hooked the two together and then to the electrical system.

More soldiers had arrived and I left to deal with them. It was ten minutes later that I felt some accomplishment from Camsa. A whiff of fresh air said that they had opened a gate.

Porta called to me, "Let's go now. Caiti is ready to collapse the tunnel."

We pulled back and Caiti raced to our old position. She concentrated hard as bullets hit her shield. Her hands held fulcrums. In a moment I felt an earthquake as the rock of the mountain shifted. Rock fell all around Caiti and the tunnel ceiling fell in. Rock hit us too and knocked us about.

My mind flew to Caiti. I could feel that she was still alive but trapped. This time Porta and Camsa held a chain as I searched for Caiti. In a moment I had her. I pulled her to me and held her tightly. She held me the same way and said, "We have to go."

We left through a gate originating at the Ilyushin. There was nobody around us and I was reluctant to let Caiti go but we had to get prepared to leave.

I asked Vasiliy, "How long?"

Again he needed no translation. "Ten minutes. It's best to stay here with the systems shut down."

"Is there a danger?" I asked again.

"There will be no mushroom cloud, only a rumble in the Earth and of course the EMP. We are not in any danger. It will destroy the drugs like you wanted as well as the lab."

Caiti collapsed the shield around the plane after finding that she could not open a gate through it. The remaining 121 bombs were placed side by side so they would not shift. Three control systems came along that would communicate with the bombs. Vasiliy called us out and we lay on the ground. I used my mind to elevate the plane and all it contained.

A minute later there was a violent earthquake that sent waves running through the very ground as if it were water. The Ilyushin wobbled in my mental grip but struck nothing but some branches. Violent after shocks shook us. It was a few minutes later that we used a gate to enter the still hovering plane. We had to hurry now because the world, and especially Russia and China, would be on this location as seismographs pinpointed the disturbance. They would have a good idea that it was not a natural earthquake and teams would check it out.

The bombs were all radioactive but we had no place to sit but among them. I continued to focus on the bombs and the rest of the plane. We rose into the air like a balloon until the engines started and pushed us forward.

Vasiliy called out orders and Camsa kept the plane in trim at the altitude our Russian friend wanted. We took a calculated risk and flew as low as possible at just below the speed of sound. The elevations changed rapidly and we spent a harrowing hour getting out of the country by following valleys.

The radio crackled with a commanding voice. Vasiliy was just as frosty in return. Again Dubkova's name was mentioned. From the way Vasiliy sounded I had Caiti and Porta try to put a shield around our plane again but still allow the engines to perform their job. They could not do it.

Two fighters came at us near the midpoint of our trip but Vasiliy again brought about threats with Dubkova's name. The jets actually pealed off and left. We headed toward Tula but instead landed at the house. A gate was opened immediately and our cargo was transferred to Woodland. Once there, it was moved away from the city while we went back and brought the Ilyushin through. There was now evidence of our previous cargo in the very metal of the plane.

Vasiliy said to me, "The numbers on our plane were recorded. Even if they don't know about the bombs, they will come to investigate what would be Dubkova's strange behaviour."

"They knew who I was when we showed up at Dyalov's home. They know I was looking for nukes."

"I think you should move the ships now."

"I do, too."

We went back to Sadieea to see Jonna and Tiffany. Both were sleeping soundly. Lauren and Matra were nearby and awoke as we came in. It was not long after that we went to bed ourselves. Ships or no ships, we needed our sleep and I had already burnt the candle at both ends too much.

I woke up later with Caiti curled up beside me. Matra was above us with a smile on her face and a heart in her hand.

"Hello, Beautiful. Do we need some repair?"

"Actually, the answer is no. There was very little damage to your bodies. The bombs must have been well shielded."

"I hope so. How is Jonna and Tiffany?"

"They are awake. Jonna is feeling better after hearing from Camsa what you had done."

"What about Tiffany?"

"She is still depressed. This will leave in time."

"I hope so."

We had a meal and the team once more left through the gate. Sadieea was no closer to capitulating but we were getting recruits coming through the gate that were sent by Marto.

Vasiliy met me in the house in Tula with an interpreter. He was obviously worried. "My superiors phoned but I had others take the calls. I feel that they will come soon."

"Then we better move the inter-world portal into the hidden room."

"And a few coins scattered around the house?"

"That's the idea. Move the liquid assets to our accounts and then shift them through a few countries. We can pay the bills from current accounts or return some. We have to remove any trace of what Dubkova was doing. What did our lawyers say?"

"They were dubious but they did give me a strategy to follow. I'm exercising our options now just in case. We have people that will swear that they saw Dubkova sell major portions of the business to foreigners. If the government want to seize the business they will put their own economy at risk."

"Good work, Vasiliy."

"Where are we going next?"

"I'm going to Ontario to make some phone calls that will allow people to think I'm in Canada. Dimitri is in the eastern end of the Black Sea or will be tomorrow. I need a way of getting to Georgia. The city is called Senaki near the coast. I gave Dimitri a coin — "

"And we're going to board the frigate?"

"Exactly."

The Duchovny portal was hidden in an outbuilding on the property. The globes were changed and we could use this one since we had a key for it. The Church portal linking Sadieea to here was moved to the hidden room. Everything in it apart from a hidden coin had been removed and sent to Shreff for study.

I returned to Woodland only for security and to slip away again. We then headed to London. As usual, I checked the cameras and not only found we had been invaded again but some people were in the house. It would not be long until they monitored the barn too.

There were coins planted in the city and I used one very carefully. I phoned Dimitri's public number. He had said that the FSB would transfer the call to the frigate.

The phone rang seven times before Dimitri answered it. "Hello, Dimitri here."

"Well, Captain, you don't sound pleased to talk to your employer."

"I don't mind at all, Sir, though I find you abrasive at times for no reason."

"You have a spine at times and I'm grateful for that. How are the trials going?"

"Both ships are very good. Lobodin released both when he got the latest payment. He keeps armed people aboard still. I don't like to have a person with a gun near me."

"I don't like it either. Has everything been loaded?"

"I managed to find some jet engines but there was no time to mount them."

"Are they aboard both vessels?"

"Yes, Sir."

"I may have to be nicer to you, Captain. I would be displeased with any other answer. Get the engines mounted and ready as soon as possible. Work around the clock."

"I am already doing that, Sir and I am anxious to see how well this method of propulsion works."

"I am too. It may only add a few knots but I want to try. Would they be ready for tonight your time?"

"No, Sir. We need at least another day. Your tests could fail because of a job done too quickly."

"You're right, Captain."

"When can I expect you, Sir?"

"I may be able to make it in three days. If the trials are good I can pay off Lobodin and take possession of the ships."

"That is good to hear, Sir. What — "

"I have business to do, Captain. Meet me in Rostov in three days. I want to hear how the engines perform."

"Yes, Sir."

I took a taxi that was waiting for me to the other end of the town and phoned Mom and Dad. This call would lead CSIS to me almost immediately so I was brief. I didn't mention anything about Jonna or Tiffany.

The taxi took me downtown and I just visualised the barn and the portal. I added my own position and superimposed them. It took longer but I got the gate open and we stepped through.

I hurried through Woodland and had the raft with five coloured stones and a coin put out into the water. I may not use it for a few days but I wanted it in place now.

The members of our expedition were ready when I got back. Camsa said, "Did you find anything interesting, Hugh?"

"CSIS people are camping out in our home."

"You didn't kick them out?"

"I could but it would make matters worse. Let's get going."

I asked Vasiliy, "Do you know a way of getting into Georgia?"

"I was thinking about that already. Perhaps flying south to the Black Sea and turning east would be best."

We used a gate to get into the city of Tula. The family was right behind me. The executive jet was ready for us. We boarded by gate just to be sure that we were not seen. We stayed just subsonic the entire trip.

We flew east of Rostov-on-Don. A few hours later we were near Turkey after passing most of the Black Sea. The plane lost altitude and then turned northeast. In a way it was fun to skim the water. It was also very dangerous. Everybody that could, monitored our altitude. Hitting the water at nearly the speed of sound would be fatal even with our shields.

We reduced speed when nearing Georgia and radioed ahead. There were two organisations that needed some warning. P'ot'i was home to a main naval base and headquarters of the Georgian navy. K'ut'aisi was the capital of the western region of Georgia called Imereti. It had an airport and customs which is what we needed at the moment.

We landed normally and Vasiliy paid some fees to park the plane. The customs car came in and found us all at the plane. One man talked to the man at the tower and found we had not tried to leave the area. The man spoke in his language, Kartuli, but switched easily to Russian.

Vasiliy did all the talking for us. When we were asked questions, we could answer in one or two words in Russian. Yes, no and Moscow were all the answers we needed.

The plane was perfunctorily searched. We wore the chains around our necks or waists and only Loca's frame was out in the open disguised as a frame for a painting. The metal was painted to hide the silver. Two one hundred dollar American bills disappeared. Our fake passports were stamped and we were free to go.

Apparently Georgia was a cheap place to have a vacation. Bus travel between cities was cheap and the common way to travel. We took a taxi to one hotel and took another taxi to a different hotel just in case we were followed. Not long after we were directed to where to find a bus. The fifty kilometre trip to Senaki was more like eighty because there was no direct road.

Our group was seen as foreigners but they had no idea how foreign most of us were. When we pulled into Senaki we found two taxis that would give us a tour of the city just as I had done in Tula. Again we had to go far from the city to find the nexus. The map I bought helped me feel less lost and the land was actually warm and inviting as were the people.

I was surprised to see that it was a jumble of rock on top of a hill. Many of the rocks were split by lightning because of the fresh surfaces. We stopped to get out and have a closer look.

Vasiliy knew of my interest and asked questions about the area. Our driver knew little but the other driver said that the place was where witches once lived. With further questions we found it was because lightning struck here so much.

We drove around the area a few times to get a feeling for the place and to place the location on the map. The portal worked just fine but we had company so we could not use it.

When the drivers were paid off, I used a combination of pantomime and twenty questions to get Vasiliy to finally say, "You want to purchase the land? You want to see if foreigners can own property? I think you need a lawyer for that. And you want to know the history of the people that have lived on this land?"

"Yes."

We rented a car and drove back to the property. Our mini survey showed the effect of the nexus was quite large. Like Tula, we found a wall around this area but it had broken down. I could only see earthquakes or people taking stone for construction purposes. The pile of stone was the remnants of a large home that was more like a mediaeval castle than anything else. Surprisingly, none of the stone appeared to be missing from this location. I figured there would be lightning rods and cables to carry away the electricity but those must have been too good for scavengers to pass up.

I used the portal to tie in with Woodland. There was little change in Tiffany so far and the family was staying as near as they could.

Vasiliy had to do all the negotiations with the lawyer for us even though some people would be able to speak English. A lawyer photocopied the area of the map and Vasiliy simply told him to find out who owned the property now because he figured it was owned by his ancestors. A retainer got the man working.

It was getting late so we abandoned looking for the history of the property and hired two taxis to take us to P'ot'i. This was only forty klicks away. The rental organisation didn't allow one way travel with the vehicle we had.

The Georgian naval base was not large as such things go. There was also a public dock and places for fishermen to tie up and unload their cargoes. I used the headband and the disk amplifier. I could sense the coin but not very well.

The rest tried and Camsa claimed to get a better reading but not enough to see well, never mind anchoring a gate. We made do with taking a tour of the city and what we could see of the military base. Vasiliy got us some rooms and we tried to act patient.

Winter was a wet time in this area and I felt a storm coming on. Vasiliy went out and rented a car and we drove out of town. Our silver was placed in a pile in a barren area and the two of us sat in the car nearby.

Vasiliy started to talk but had to quit because I no longer had the translating device. We simply had language lessons where I taught him Ladra and he taught me some Russian.

Every half hour I hurried to the silver pile and searched for Dimitri's coin. It was closer but not enough yet. The lightning had not come either. There was lightning out over the Black Sea, though, and it looked like two strikes were in the same general area though it was far over the horizon.

I took a calculated risk and raced again to the silver ahead of schedule. There was no lightning in our vicinity but there would be soon. I checked and found that I could almost make it. I picked up two amplifiers and found that it actually worked better this way. I saw a cabin on a ship and a coin under a piece of tape attached to the back of the door.

Vasiliy was signalled and he ran to me to hold one of the silver chains. I took two more along with some of the icons. I stepped through and waved to Vasiliy who didn't look happy to leave me or perhaps not talk to Dimitri.

With some gestures I told Vasiliy to collapse the gate and go back to the car to wait. The gate closed and I was alone in the ship. My head was wet from the cold rain but I was dry under the juffa. The ship was warm. I used the coin and the headband to check for people near the door.

I woke up later to find Dimitri over me. He said, "Are you injured?"

I had to think a moment. "I was wearing a headband when I blanked out. The ship must have been hit by lightning."

"The ship was hit seven times. All of them were within the last half hour."

"Help me up will you, Dimitri?"

He got me into a chair and I took off my headband. Dimitri asked "What happened?"

"I was using the coin you put on the door to check the hallway and that is the last I remember. Lightning could not have hit me but something overloaded my mind."

"Will you be alright?"

"I think so."

"That is good to hear. What are your orders, Sir?"

"I want to meet the officers one at a time. Everybody will get the minimum conditioning. Those chosen to go will learn a lot more. My secret is bound to come out but I want to hold it off as long as possible."

"I thought you would have to do this. How do you wish to begin?"

Dimitri invited the off-duty officers into his quarters one at a time. The first few had to be threatened with a gun. After that I just hid in a Russian uniform among my new conscripted officers as I took more men.

I was doing about twenty an hour and found it tiring. The electrical storm had passed and I risked opening a gate to my people even though they didn't have a coin. It actually worked. But a pattern of coloured stones set into concrete could not compare with people I loved.

Vasiliy had not come back yet but thunder was heard through the hotel room walls in P'ot'i. The officers were asked to go through the gate just to see how it worked. They were warned to never do so without the medallion.

The officers returned and called their own men. My family worked as a group to get a few of the ratings. A ship of this size should have a hundred and nineteen men. We had two hundred and sixty and they were packed like sardines. This included twenty three men stationed aboard as a security force for Lobodin.

We were half way through when Vasiliy returned to the hotel room. He was given command of those that were chosen to stay with us. He also took them to P'ot'i for some R&R and beds in the hotel we were staying at. I just wanted room on the ship to work.

The four of us that could use the icons did the rest of the crew. From then on we had to separate the goats from the sheep. Any government organisation was hesitant about trusting anybody so they had informers posted in the ranks. This was true of all intelligence services no matter what the country. The truth was only known to Dimitri, my security, and myself.

We went ashore in a manner of speaking the next morning and processed the bachelors. There were goats in here too. The Russians didn't have military uniforms so they blended in with the rest of the population. With the recent civil war there were a lot of UN troops around to keep the peace. None of the crew looked out of place.

The Yeisk was next and six men from the Snezhnogorsk transferred over. Two carried a coin each and we began the process once more. This time the normal complement of thirty six was seventy eight.

The captain was the first and the hardest. We ended up having to take the entire bridge crew at gunpoint which could have been disastrous. They looked at Caiti, Porta, and Camsa holding AKs and paused. The rest of us had to look just as desperate.

Dimitri left his post to come aboard the Yeisk so he could be in on the interrogation. We found that the Captain had command of explosives in the Snezhnogorsk's engine room in the event if the frigate looked like it would actually be taken. The man's secret orders were opened that dealt with different situations. He had extra orders from Admiral Slava to shoot anybody that even looked like they were going to go along with my plans.

Through questioning all of the men, we had found out what was wrong with our weapons systems and how to fix them. In some cases it was impossible to repair.

The jet engines had been tested previously and I had them do it for me. They pushed the ship along quite well considering their thrust but they would not help increase the top speed unless I could get the ship out of the water.

I was going to drop off all of those that I didn't want and take the rest but this wouldn't work. My light conditioning would break down under the kind of questioning the men would be put under.

As an alternative, Vasiliy and Moltatas drove Caiti to Senaki where she opened an inter-world portal and then a chain gate to transport the surplus men on the ships to Woodland. The goats that had to make periodic reports would have to remain with us. Caiti picked up a few odds and ends including our personal weapons. We had all grown fond of our automatic shotguns.