Robert Thomas - The Bear - Red Star Rising

“You sure you’re going to be able to do this?”

“We don’t have much of a choice now, do we?” Danil pointed to the large doors. “Push those doors open. As soon as you tell me, I’ll fire the engines. I don’t want to make too much noise before things start happening.” He looked over the controls one last time before leaning back into the seat. “It’s a good thing these doors face away from the house. They won’t see us for a few minutes.”

“Why don’t we just leave now?” Anya asked.

“Can’t take that chance. As soon as the engines start, they’d be on us quickly. We’ve got to surprise them first. I’d rather have a clear takeoff.” Sasha handed Danil his assault rifle. “If we don’t make it back, you need to decide how you want to handle this thing.”

Danil nodded in reply. He could go out fighting, or flying.

“Let’s go, Ruth. We’ve got work to do.”

She smiled at the sound of her name. It was the first time she’d heard it in over a week. She didn’t want to be Russian any longer. She handed Sasha his weapon and headed toward the door.

The building gave them cover only for a short distance as the yard behind the house was an open expanse. The farmhouse was situated to defend, with wide killing zones on all sides. They skirted along a line of bushes that acted as a windbreak to the fields for as long as they could, before kneeling down in the wet snow. The house was still almost one hundred yards in front of them.

“Not quite the ideal situation,” Sasha noted.

“I liked the openness from inside,” she whispered. “I didn’t think I’d need to assault my own safe-house.”

A single car was parked beside the house at the end of the lane. One person remained in it, the driver who was casually smoking a cigarette, the smoke drifting out the window into the cold, morning air.

“He doesn’t seem too worried, does he?” Anya leveled her weapon and sighted him. “I could pick him off with a single shot if I had the right rifle.”

“You that good?”

“Yeah,” Anya replied quietly. “I’m that good.”

The minutes dragged on as they listened for tell-tale signs from others. Surely there were others inside. Just as the thought formed in Sasha’s mind, the driver opened the door and yelled a reply to someone in the house.

“They aren’t being very secretive about their presence.”

“My guess is they found the house empty and are just waiting for someone, meaning us,” Sasha replied, “to come pay them a visit.”

“Well, let’s get this show on the road. No telling when others may show up.”

Their best plan was simply a sprint to the wall closest to them. It was a sitting room with only a single window pointing away from the lane. They nodded in unison and sprang forward. Sasha could feel his heart pounding. He hadn’t done anything like this in years. He had left live-fire drills behind, long ago. They dropped to the ground at the base of the wall after an agonizing run. They’d felt naked. If anyone had seen them, they’d know in the next few moments. Their breath hung in the still air as their eyes locked on each other.

The sound of scraping across a floor told them the room above was occupied. Sasha stood, glancing into the window from the side. He could see nothing but a wall. The sound of voices suddenly reverberated against the thin glass. He held up three fingers, and Anya nodded. They needed to get to a door. Anya pointed over her shoulder. They’d try the rear door that led to the kitchen. It opened into a small mudroom, something it seemed was common to farm houses around the world.

Anya led and came to rest beside the door, her weapon held tightly against her side. She reached up to the door knob, giving it a turn. It was unlocked. A full turn and she felt the wood door begin to give way. She let it stand silently as she listened intently. Nothing. It was time to move. She eased the door open and slipped inside, crouching as she went. The small hall was dark, lit only by a filtered light from the kitchen. Sasha stepped in behind her, his weapon trained ahead. He slipped past, landing his shoulder against the wall as he looked out into the kitchen. Empty. They were somewhere else.

Sasha pointed toward the sitting room and again they heard voices. ‘Sloppy’, he thought. But then he had to remind himself, they weren’t dealing with military types. They were dealing with criminals, thugs. They ruled with brute force and intimidation. They weren’t a tactical unit.

Anya stood as Sasha took a deep breath. It was show-time. They crept into the kitchen coming to the outer wall of their target. Sasha lowered his weapon as he stepped in front of the opening and sprayed a burst inside. His targets didn’t have time to even know he was there. Two went down instantly as Anya stepped into the opening and sent a single shot into the third. They spun around and began systematically searching the house for others. They couldn’t be this lucky, could they? Within three minutes, the house was cleared. No other targets.

“Let’s get the hell out of here.” Sasha lowered his rifle and wiped his sleeve across his face. He couldn’t remember sweating so much in winter before. He felt like he was getting old.

As they walked past the sitting room a single shot splintered the door frame next to him. He dove to the floor as Anya tucked her rifle around the corner and put a slug in the chest of the Russian that had survived the initial assault.

“Damn. We should have checked them.”

“Agreed,” Anya answered. “But we also had to make sure no one would be coming in behind us.”

“Let’s get this plane in the air. It’s time to go home.”

They were out the door in seconds, sprinting through the wet snow. The house they’d come to know so well would be nothing but a memory and they were glad to leave it behind. As they rounded the barn, the hangar building came into view. It seemed an agonizingly long run to get there. They pushed through the door and sprinted toward the Cessna.

“Go Danil, go.”

Sasha’s words were returned with silence. As he made the cabin, he knew why. Danil sat there, half-slumped over the controls. The blood from his wound saturating his pants. He was bleeding again. Sasha leaned him back against the seat. He could see the sweat pouring down his face. His decision was instant.

“Danil?”

“Huh?” The Air Force pilot blinked at the sound of Sasha’s voice.

“You okay?”

“Danil. You’ve got to fly this plane,” Anya yelled.

“He can’t,” Sasha replied. “Help me get him into the other seat.”

“For what? You think you’re going to fly this thing?”

“I don’t think we have another choice.”

“I can walk you through it,” Danil replied in a low voice. “It’s easy.”

“If you can stay awake long enough.”

Sasha now found himself staring at the controls of a plane he’d never seen. He had no piloting experience. He knew nothing.

“Well, now what, skipper?” she said sarcastically.

“Danil, what the hell am I supposed to do?”

Danil leaned his head back and wiped his face with his hands.

“Danil, you’ve got to think,” Anya yelled.

Danil began mumbling. He was going through a pre-flight check in his thoughts. “Ignition,” he blurted out. Danil raised his hand and pointed to the switches to start the engines. Sasha inhaled deeply and began following the steps Danil was pointing out. Within a minute, both engines on the Cessna were turning and they were headed out the hangar door.

Sasha pointed the plane toward the makeshift runway that ran parallel to the lane. It was nothing more than a gravel strip piled on the edge of the fields. He could feel the wheels struggling in the snow. The new layer from the night before did nothing but hide the frozen crust and just made it more difficult. As he added thrust to push through the snow, he heard the engines spiral up and watched the gauges react. The wheels slipped as he turned onto the runway and the plane slid sideways. He held his breath until he felt the crust give way and the plane began to roll easily. Danil laid his hand on Sasha’s arm.