Retaliation

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

NVG Base Omega, Central Siberia, Russia

Shen was becoming unnerved by his captor’s weird behavior. He had expected more questions and visits after the earlier incident. What was unexpected was for the vampire to move his office into the same room as Shen’s cell. The considering looks he’d been getting were not a comfort either, although the increased rations were.

Konrad had alternated between ranting about his dead brothers and their killer, the curious site discovered near Arckangelsk, and real plans on how to maneuver his political group into shifting Russia’s policies to align with Konrad’s own objectives. At least once every three days, he would rant at how gallingly effective the commander of the raiders and his troops were against his forces. He did not realize how paranoid he sounded when he blamed the attacks on Boris.

Konrad had given Shen all his reports on the attacks and what he had been able to piece together of the attacks on the supply convoys. The vampire had started to assign a company of troops as convoy escorts, and the raids had died back, only to be replaced by spoiling attacks on the bases.

Whoever was organizing the raiders was brilliant in many ways. All the NVG he had seen were on edge as if they were expecting an attack at any moment. Shen could see that it was wearing on them, and tired people made more mistakes.

From the reports and the limited history, he knew that the raids could be originating from Boris. Or they could be a new faction of Chechens, as many indicators in the reports suggested. It could be some other foreign or domestic group that wanted everyone to think that it was the Chechens. There simply was not enough data. None of the raiders who had been killed or injured had been left on site. There was the occasional scrap of a torn uniform, but those could have come from anywhere, even if it was the camouflage pattern and color combination favored by the Chechen rebels.

While Shen was reading over the latest reports, Andrev came running into the room and saluted Konrad, “Sir, we have received reports that the convoy that was due today has come under attack and is pinned, but holding ground.” Shen’s ears almost twitched at this. If the irregular troops were commanded by Boris, this was almost certainly a trap. The big Were could probably defeat Konrad, but Shen remained quiet. With incomplete information, he could hardly be expected to voice possibilities or advice, let alone a warning.

If Boris killed Konrad, it was entirely possible that he would come to the base. Although Shen feared the outcome if Boris found him here, he feared it far less than any possible outcome of remaining trapped in this base with the unstable vampire. The man was riding the ragged edge of insanity, almost ready to tip over into full madness. Shen knew that being a madman’s prisoner was not likely good for one’s long-term health.

So Shen kept his suspicions to himself while the vampire and his command team planned a reaction force to ‘smash’ the ambush. They had convinced themselves that Omega base was their second most secret location so to them, it seemed more likely that an organization discovering it would keep looking and find the Archangelsk base. With the secrecy surrounding that location, it would appear to be the actual HQ.

Omega base was a centralized comms node, but they were careful to keep the traffic hidden and relayed through other bases. A reasonable person would conclude it was an important site, but any attack was, in their analysis, more likely to be directed against Archangelsk.

Shen thought their analysis showed why he was glad that he was their prisoner, not one of their men or officers. Rather than positing a scenario into which the facts slotted neatly, they were twisting and bending many of their facts to fit their situation. When he was asked his opinion, he responded simply, “It fits as well as anything I can come up with. There are other possibilities, but this is as likely or more likely than most of them.”

Andrev nodded with a vicious smile. “Good. Now we have a chance of knocking these raiders back on their heels. If we can hand them a defeat, it can only weaken their resolve.”

Konrad nodded slowly. “Yes. Ready the HQ guard squad as well. We will lead the rescue effort, and make sure some of the raiders escape. With our appearance, we can spread fear among these troublemakers. They may work for Boris, but I doubt he risked revealing his other forms to them for oh-so-many reasons. They may not even realize the base is in such close proximity, in which case this additional force will break the strength of the raiders we attack by the shock and surprise alone. Their leaders will appear less competent and that will erode their resolve and morale. Go, Andrev. Gather the forces we will need to leave only a handful of survivors. I will go prepare myself.”