NationStates Jolt Archive

"I really don't know much," said Mara. "At the time, General al-Ghazi took over the instruments of government and was forming a militia to fight the Freeks. He joined the militia. From what I heard when I got back... al-Ghazi said that he had dispatched him to detonate a nuclear device in the Freekish lines, but it never occurred. He said he had no idea what became of him. Knowing the Freeks, something terrible."

Mara flipped the photograph. The next one was of her standing next to a tall, olive-skinned, athletic man who looked like some kind of Central Asian. "That's him." The man was holding an infant in his arms. "That's Kathy again. She was only five months old when the war ended."

"What kind of General would send militia into such a dangerous mission? No offense, but your husband mustn't have been ready. They were probably going straight into a hornet's nest." Conrad said angrily. "How has it been on Kathy without a real father figure around?"

"General al-Ghazi is insane," said Mara. "This is a guy who told Dreadfire that Allah would destroy him. They probably were heading into a hornet's nest... Mustafa would have probably had only basic small-arms training and the use of NBC gear."

"Just for the record... he was my fiance, we hadn't married yet. Kathy... is well-adjusted. When she asks about her daddy, I just tell her that he was killed in a war. She seems to understand."

"She may 'understand' now, because she is young, but later on she is going to ask more questions. She is still young, and things will change. Mara, she is always going to wonder what happened to her father. Kathy might never have a real father." stated Conrad.

"I'll wonder too. I don't like to think about it. The Freeks are barbaric. Have you heard about their clash with British Londinium? The things they did to the Empress... and on national television... it's just sick. I don't want to think about that happening to people."

"No I didn't. What happened to their Empress?" asked a curious Conrad.

"Disgusting," said Mara. "Basically, they strapped her down, cut her up, pretty much tore her to pieces before crushing her to death. Sick."

"What kind of person would do such a thing?" Conrad said in disgust as he shook his head.

"I don't know... whatever culture the Freeks have. It's not a racial issue, more of a cultural one. They have a culture of violence, a culture of war..."

"I'm really tired," said Mara.

General Kaselev came up to the tent. Not wanting to step in on anyone having sex, and not wanting to poke his head in and have it blown off, he radioed Mara from right outside the tent.

"Colonel, are you in there with Lt. Helfrich?"

"Yes," said Mara over her radio.

"I'd like to speak with him. Is he... decent?"

Again, Mara answered in the affirmative...

"Who are you talking to Mara?" asked Conrad as he tried to get some sleep.

"General Kaselev called on the radio. Apparently he wanted to talk to you and didn't want to walk in on us."

"Well where is he?"

"I'm right here," said a male voice from near the tent. The side of the tent shook slightly, his way of "knocking" to be admitted.

Conrad was startled by the shaking of the tent, but once he heard Kaselev's familiar voice he was once again calm. Quickly he put on his BDU and opened the tent flap. Stepping outside he looked Kaselev straight in the eye. Obliviously the General wanted something from him.

"So where is Sgt. Wessel?"

"He stayed in his tent. My men are with me... anyway, he is near where we encamped last night. He is safe."

"As for what I want... I want you to go into the base. They will arrest and deport me if I go in, if not torture me. I'll provide a camera, and you would look for information about Corporal Hargan."

"So you have broken an agreement? You were suppose to be with a Canadsteiner at all times. Sgt. Wessel was suppose to keep an eye on you, and you just left him. Jesus..." said Conrad as he shook his head. "And now you want me to spy on some base? Are you mad? If you turn around right now, after you show me the location of the base, I will go check out this base, but I will not bring in a camera. That is pretty much committing treason."

"Without the camera, I would have no way to verify your denials of any files I may wish to find. Was I supposed to drag him here, tired, refusing to move? He had already refused when I asked him to enter the base. I will take you to him, but whoever ends up going in will have to take the camera."

"Still it is treason Kaselev. You should be luck I am going to even go into this base, but that is if I even get threw the front gate. These guards might not even let me in. Yes I might be in the Army, but not in their unit. So they might ask themselves 'why is this officer snooping around?'. I don't want to be arrested. I am sorry, but either no camera and I go in or I don't go in at all." said Conrad.

"It seems I'll have to find another Canadsteiner," said Kaselev calmly. "In the meantime... I will take you to Wessel, to assure you he is safe. I'll probably withdraw these troops within 24 hours. Colonel Fulton... I trust you will be able to persuade one of the soldiers to go in." He handed Mara a spy camera and microphone.

Mara nodded. "I'll do it when they all wake up."

"I don't want to see Sgt. Wessel today. All I want is some sleep. Sgt. Wessel is probably doing what I am should be doing. Just go back to him now, and make sure you don't 'wander' away from him again." said Conrad as he looked General Kaselev in the eye. There was something about him that bothered Conrad.

As soon as Kaselev left, Conrad turned to Mara. There was not going to be another Canadsteiner who would agree to go into the base, let along bring in a camera. Honestly there best chance would be Conrad, but he wasn't going to tell them that.

"Who are you going to persuade to be a spy?" asked Conrad. He lead Mara back into the tent, where it was warm.

"Whoever's willing," said Mara. "Kaselev's already tried Wessel." The general led his squad back towards Wessel.

"Seems you won't, and Wessel won't. The general will pull out in 24 hours... then, knowing him, he'll contact every Canadsteiner he has a dossier on until he hits pay dirt."

"Well twenty four hours. Mara this might be the last hours I ever see you." Conrad said before gently kissing her cheek. "Let me think about that camera thing again. I will tell you in the morning. But right now I need some sleep. Good night."

Mara smiled. She wrote her cell number and email down and set it on Conrad's bag. She didn't want him getting caught with a .kn email if he unknowingly sneaked it into a base and was identified as a Kahanistanian officer.

The next morning Conrad woke up very early. He had still not come to a decision about spying on the base. Was it really treason against his own country? I mean he was helping find out of the Agency had really made this Kahanistani soldier disappear or other treacherous acts. Yet again the agency had protected Canadstein so many times. They had kept the government informed and alert about other countries activities. Deciding was going to be very hard.

Conrad knew that he needed to clear his mind. Silently he put on his BDU and grabbed his rifle, then exited the tent. A little walk was going to help him make a decision. The cold morning air and serene surroundings were going to put his mind at ease. Conrad knew that so much was on the line.

Mara changed into her still-damp uniform and sat down, eating a MRE. She was hungry and still tired, and hoped that Kaselev had made it back before Wessel woke up.

She sat under a tree, waiting for Conrad to come and make his decision, and for the other soldiers to wake up, so she could try to persuade one of them.

After an hour of walking through the woods Conrad came back. He sat down on the ground, then propped himself up against a tree. From his pocket he pulled out a granola bar and started to munch on it. Through the bits he would occasionally drink some water. Conrad enjoyed the morning silence. Most of the camp was still sleeping. Definitely a time for thinking.

Kaselev and his squad arrived back where they had left Wessel.

---

Mara sat reading a book as she saw soldiers beginning to wake.

Conrad finished his breakfast and had come up with answer. Stealthy he walked up to Mara and place his hand on her shoulder. Of course this would startle Mara, but once Conrad to talk it would reassure her that it was a friend.

"I will do it. Now give me the camera." said Conrad with no emotions.

Mara got up and gingerly handed the camera and microphone to Conrad, then watched him intently...

"I'll lead you there. I'll take you as far as a kilometre from the base, meet me when you get out."

"No you must stay here. I don't want to be caught with you. They might think I am up to something if I am with a Kahanistani. Everything will turn out fine. Don't worry. Here take my rifle, in case anything happens." said Conrad.

He handed over his rifle to Mara, and kissed her good bye. Was there anything honestly to be afraid of? No. It was just like any other base. Nothing at all to be worried about. Conrad would just go in and look for anything suspicious. If he did, then he would take a few pictures. Hopefully that would be enough for General Kaselev.

"I can't take your weapon," said Mara. "If I stay here with it, the others will think I killed you and took it from you. I'd be far out of sight if I came along with you."

"That was a direct order Mara." Conrad quickly turned around and pointed his Beretta straight at her face. "Do you want me to have you apprehended for disobeying a superior officer? Now take the weapon and stay here."

"And when your comrades ask me what I'm doing with it... what am I supposed to tell them?" Mara was more afraid that she would be killed by the others than of Conrad.

"They aren't going to be looking for me. They are going to looking for your friend. All of us want this mission to over. Obliviously they are more intent on finding your comrade more than worrying about me. These men know that I can take care of myself. I have to go now. If I catch you following me, then I will have to report you to General Kaselev for insubordination. Mara, it is for your own good." Conrad put back his Beretta, then walked out of the camp. He didn't even look back. Mara certainly was going to get the last word. It was either follow Conrad or have pretty much the whole mission botched. The Kahanistani only had another twelve hours left before they were being escorted back to the air force base. These next twelve hours were going to be critical to the whole mission.

Mara could justify herself to Kaselev later. He probably wouldn't make her listen to Conrad; he had never been happy about taking orders from the Canadsteiners himself. She didn't want the Canadsteiners in the camp catching her with Conrad's weapon which she wasn't supposed to have and shooting her; on the other hand, if she was simply gone when Kaselev and company showed up to leave, Conrad's men might think that they had gone off to shag, and Kaselev might have questions about her, but at least she'd be safe.

After thinking matters over in the space of fifteen seconds or so, Mara simply stuffed Conrad's rifle under the gear he'd left. If the unthinkable happened and he was merely going to betray them as Miles had betrayed Nadia, Mara would have an ace up her sleeve that the camp soldiers wouldn't know, so she could protect the soldiers under her command.

Conrad walked to the base, but not without his mishaps. Throughout the morning he occasionally got lost, since the base was not located any map, but only had general location of it. After two hours Conrad finally came upon the fence. A sign was hanging from it. It stated that it was a government facility and that no trespassing was allow.

Following the perimeter of the fence, Conrad finally made it to a guard post. A young private was sitting within a small structure reading a book. Conrad walked up and tapped on the small building. The private instantly became alert and noticed Conrad's rank. Giving a crisp salute, the private looked at the lieutenant.

"Private, I have orders to conduct a mandatory assessment of this base by the orders of Colonel Königsmarck for the Royal Canadstein Army. Now let me through." ordered Lt. Helfrich.

"Mind if I see this orders...what was your name?" asked the private.

"I am Lieutenant Conrad Helfrich. Colonel Königsmarck did not give me written orders, but if you rather call him then go ahead. I have heard Colonel Königsmarck is not a morning person though. It would be in your best interest not Private not to disturb him." replied Conrad hoping that the Private would buy it.

"Okay...just go ahead and go to the office. You will get need to check in, also you will get a pass. Make sure you don't lose that pass or you will be detained as an infiltrator and will not be released until someone can identify you." The private pointed toward a bland military structure.

Upon entering the base Conrad noticed a few military structures, two small hangars, and a small runway. This government facility was extremely small. Conrad guessed that only hundred men could have been stationed here. Within fifteen minutes Conrad had checked in, handed over his Beretta, and gotten his pass. He had somehow gotten into this base. It was time to get down to business.

The inspection didn't take that long. There were only a half a dozen buildings and two hangars to look around in. After two hours he had found absolutely nothing. There was nothing of any interest. He had taken a couple of photos of the base. The base was just another average sleepily government facility. Turning in his pass and getting back his Beretta back, Conrad then back his way back to the campsite.

Conrad got back to the campsite a little after one. He sat next to Mara, who was having lunch with the three other men. Stealthily he put the camera into Mara's pocket and gave her a signal indicating that he had gotten into the base. From his pocket he retrieved Dante's Inferno. Then he went to his place in the book and began to read.

Mara inspected the film while waiting for General Kaselev to return and take them out. "Thanks," she said. While looking it over, she saw no documents or even anywhere documents could be held that suggested they had Molly. She must have been covertly executed and the records destroyed. Not only that, but the film did not show any secret torture facilities... but the deportees had passed polygraphs saying that they had been tortured and beaten.

Kaselev would know what to look for better than Mara would. She waited for him so she could give him the film.

"Find anything? To me it seemed like any average Canadsteiner base. Though it was a tad bit small. I have no idea where they would put a secret torture facility. But the odd thing was how strict the security was there. They must be some test lab there." said Conrad, still reading Inferno without even looking up.

"A test lab... Conrad, you didn't happen to see anything that looked like biological samples in there, did you? Something that could be a bioweapon?" Mara remembered the superflu virus that the doctors had had to treat Nadia for.

"Nah...most likely a test lab for new army equipment. That place would be way too small to even make a low level common cold. You have nothing to worry about. Just try to relax, okay? We only have a couple of hours left together." Conrad took a glance at his watch, then went back to reading.

"Why the strict security...? In Kahanistan, new army equipment isn't tested at remote facilities out in the sticks. We test it in most military facilities. You know how bad security is at military bases in Kahanistan. They rely on the vaults and security codes to protect the classified stuff, but weapon testing is generally done on fields in bases within earshot of any grunt or even civilian whose house happens to be near the base. Besides, most of our gear ends up on the civilian market in no time."

Mara slipped her arm around Conrad, looking at her watch. There was an hour and a half left before they had to bail out.

"You are asking the wrong person. I guess they want to keep most of it a secret from the civilians or foreigners. But why again? I don't have that answer. Most of the time I just follow orders and keep my head down. It is for the best."

Conrad put his arm around Mara and scooted over to get closer to her. He let Mara put her head on his shoulder. Pretty soon they were going to have to regroup with the other Kahanistani groups, than hike back to the staging area, where the jeeps and trucks would be waiting. After finally back to the air force base.

"I wonder what happened to Corporal Hargan, then," said Mara. "The carrion dogs haven't found a corpse, thank goodness. The bloodhounds haven't started sniffing around a base. I'll have Kaselev look over the film when we get back, and he'll decide what to do from there."

Mara looked at her watch. "It'll take about a half hour to get to the RV point. We should get going. Do you have my cell and email tucked away?"

"Maybe Corporal Hargan made it across the border and is having a hard time trying to get back home. For all you know this Hargan person could be on her way back home right now. You just have to hope for the best Mara." Conrad said. He retrieved a piece of paper with all of Mara's information. "It is right here. I plan on getting an e-mail from you once you are safely back in Kahanistani. Mara, I want to at least to try to make this relationship work. It doesn't hurt to try."

Conrad left Mara with these words, then went to packing up his stuff. Within ten minutes all his stuff was gathered and he was ready to go.

Mara nodded. She would contact him, but had no clue how she'd make a long distance relationship work; she had no desire to relocate and have her baby brought up in Canadsteiner schools and raised as a 'good little robot.' She was working under the impression that Conrad had an equally negative view of the culture of Kahanistan.

She packed her gear and was ready to go soon after Conrad was.

Conrad lead the Kahanistani group back to the staging area. It took little over an hour to get back to the area, but they were soon met up the other groups. Once all the Kahanistani and Canadsteiners were accounted for, the convoy of vehicles headed out. As before the three trucks were trailed by a jeep in the front and back. This convoy was heading straight for the military base. There was going be no stopping.

At the base, the officers climbed out of the trucks and signaled for the enlisted to do the same. General Kaselev looked around, as if expecting the Canadsteiners to betray him. He did not see the plane home, but maybe it just hadn't arrived...

Soon enough a C-130 came out of a hangar. This was their ticket home.

New Masada, Capital of Kahanistan

Military Intelligence HQ

General Kaselev and two other intelligence officers sat in the general's office, discussing the excursion. "We managed to locate Captain Roman," said Kaselev. "Not without some incidents, like four of our soldiers getting caught... peeping... and one of them ingesting local plant life. He and Captain Roman are still in hospitals in Canadstein. They were too sick to transport."

"And Hargan?" asked another officer.

"We have found no trace of her. We managed to get this film smuggled into one of their bases, and it shows nothing of interest." He ran the film on a projector in his office, detailing the interior of Moltke.

"It is possible that equipment is only taken out when it is used," said the other officer. "The soldiers who infiltrated made perfectly clear that they were tortured, strapped down and beaten. A room where this takes place can look quite bare when not used."

"I agree," said Kaselev. "But we lack the evidence to convince the military to destroy the facility. They will not want to risk war while we are in our current military position. Besides, we will need their cooperation if we are to locate Hargan. The carrion dogs would have found her body if she were buried less than six feet under."

"We should have brought ground-penetrating radar, like the kind the Doomies have that scopes out tunnels from high above. Ours is only in its infancy, but it would be sufficient for this..."

"I had enough trouble getting them to let us in the country," said Kaselev. "We had to go in unarmed. I agreed because I knew that if they killed us, they would have started a war. They... speculated she may have made it out of the country. I find that unlikely myself; she has but minimal escape training, and then only while she has freedom of movement, not while she's locked in a base. Still... I'll increase pressure on whoever has her. We'll print out wanted posters of her. Let's say she's wanted for some crime here..."

"Like what? If it's serious enough to warrant extradition, they might just deal with her themselves. They don't like our system, so they probably wouldn't hand someone over to it. We wouldn't hand anyone over to the Doomies, would we?"

"No. The criminal idea was just that... an idea. But we should go ahead with some kind of wanted poster. Maybe just as a missing girl. That should work..."

---

24 hours later, an An-225 strategic transport was loaded with over one million posters, each with an image of Molly's face and the caption, "Have you seen this girl?" It gave her name, age, height, weight, hair colour, eye colour, and other information that might be of use to anyone who thought they'd seen her. About the only thing it didn't mention was that she was a soldier of Kahanistan; her nationality, however, was not kept secret. The plane was filled to the brim with high-grade jet fuel and given a list of cities within a 100 kilometre radius of Moltke, as well as cities across the border... just in case the Canadsteiners weren't lying through their teeth.

No new information about Molly was ever reported. She had literally gone off the map. If the Agency had its way, Molly's case would never be closed. Their would only be dead ends. Molly would never be found. She was effectively now a Canadsteiner.

Three weeks later, a whole fleet of An-225's were loaded up. These bore obvious Kahanistanian markings the size of Praetonia. A total of sixty million posters were dumped all over Canadstein and its neighbours, featuring what Molly might look like with various forms of surgical alteration, disguises, implants, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

General Kaselev and most of Kahanistanian Intelligence seemed to think the President would act against the Agency; it was unlikely that he would allow them to run unchecked and start a war next time they kidnapped someone.

Commander Adrian Collins, Kahanistan National Police, who had investigated the disappearance of General Malakov four months earlier, sat behind his phone very smugly. Unless Molly was being held in a cellar or detained in a secret location, someone had seen her. Expecting the phone to ring off the hook, he waited for the calls to come in...

The Canadsteiners were extremely mad the second time the posters were dropped. President Harper informed the Kahanistani that no more posters were to be dropped. They were all over the place. Special crews were created to clean up the mess, but soon enough the paper was recycled into a more useful purpose.

Though Molly's image had spread, few people thought that they had seen her in the North. Molly had gotten back into her "normal" lifestyle and was allowed into St. Cecilia. They would usually think that the posters had gotten to them and would brush it off. Molly was just another random Canadsteiner.

General Kaselev spoke with Commander Collins in the National Police headquarters.

"Commander, their government is not pleased with us dropping leaflets over their territory," said the general. "She has not surfaced, and that leads me to believe she is being hidden. Nobody in the neighbouring nations has contacted us either. We did make an effort to let them know where we came from..."

"They are hiding something," said Commander Collins. "I have experience with Canadsteiners. I investigated the Malakov case."

"You didn't know who they were," replied the general.

"True. But I do now, and I know how they operate. They will deny even when confronted by the most convincing evidence. I could show a video tape of them kidnapping her and they would deny it. I gather they still deny the kidnapping of Miss Sklenova."

"They do, Commander. If the leafleting hasn't worked, and she hasn't surfaced, I would say she has been executed, and her body dumped out to sea. I could detail a submarine to prowl their waters... you could have National Police divers enter their lakes and rivers. Since you aren't a military organisation, you shouldn't have the diplomatic red tape that we had to go through as military officers. You would just be diving around looking for bodies. You wouldn't even go anywhere near any government facility. The Canadsteiners would have no reason to detain you."

"Maybe you were premature in asking Ms. Levitt to let their embassy come back, General? They are still giving you the runaround about Miss Hargan. Mark my words, Kaselev... they killed her and they'll be harder than the Amestrians to get any information out of. I'll find her body, but I can't guarantee any more than that."

"I... promised their President. He would help me search for her, and I would ask the M.F.A. to restore relations. If you have evidence he has deceived me, I will gladly see it. Otherwise... I want her here. Her parents want her here. Her boyfriend, I assume she has one, wants her here. Her commanding officer who recommended her for this mission wants her here. Need I go on?"

"No, sir. I'll do what I can, General."

"See that you do."

---

That night, a transport aircraft marked with the insignia of the Kahanistanian National Police requested permission to land in northern Canadstein, next to the lake closest to Moltke. The police officers aboard carried waterproofed sidearms, diving gear, and a tank containing a trained dolphin, which could locate human remains.

The transport was allowed to land.

The dolphin tank was wheeled off of the transport aircraft, and its dolphin dumped into the lake. Dolphins are primarily saltwater creatures, so the dolphin could only search for a few hours at a time before it had to be returned to its saltwater tank, fed, and rested. Human divers also searched for any remains, or even anything concrete. Kahanistanian police had dealt with the Mafia so many times that they had special units for finding bodies that had been given "concrete boots."

Police officers fanned out to nearby lakes, rivers, creeks, streams, and other bodies of water while their dolphins rested and occasionally asked around if anything suspicious had been spotted. An anonymous tip line was given out, by which anyone with information could call the National Police with it.

A ballistic missile submarine was requisitioned from the military, its weapons systems removed to make the submarine more politically acceptable in Canadsteiner waters, and the space replaced with the most state-of-the-art detection equipment in the Kahanistanian arsenal. This submarine would find anything dumped in the sea, provided the sharks hadn't gotten to it first.

While the Kahanistani were looking in the lake, the Canadstein Royal Army was closely watching them. There was no way that Kahanistani were going to do anything without a Canadsteiner knowing. But who cared? There was no evidence.