The Return

Volodja opened his brown eyes. It can't be heaven. He is not qualified to enter there, but yet there was face of an angel above his. Belle Starr. The girl he loved. Mostly secretly and from a distance because he never thought that he might be worthy of her. And when he had a chance it just happened so fast and he lost all of his courage.

"Have someone told you that doing mouth to mouth you might put yourself into a danger. Speaks the man whom you just saved from drowning. But that doesn't lessen the point. First I want to say "Thank you for saving me" Now lay on your back and let me look your eyes. They seem to have something in it." Volodja got himself up to his feet started to treat her eyes with an improvised compress (his handkerchief and some clean water, dropped from the ceiling, while he continued talking:

"I do love you, Belle. Everything between us happened so fast and I hadn't courage to tell you that because Vo was in your heart and he still is. I felt like a thief. And I felt so small compared with him. He wants you to be happy. So do I, but unlike him, I am just a human and seeing you in his arms hurt me. If I was a better man then I should have just been happy for you. You have long past together and I have only a promise of future to offer. I can't force you to take a chance with me if it's against what your your heart wishes. I know that much. Actually here was a one more reason why I didn't tell you how I feel - an aesthetic one. There wasn't romantic place enough to tell you about my feelings. I wanted that place to be special. I wanted everything to be special. Just like in old movies or books.

I started to hope that I might be the man who can be with you. First I was selfless when I helped you, but when you told me that you love me, I started to dream about us. Secretly again. And I thought that bringing Vo back into your life will make you happy. And when I had a chance to begin our relationship I chickened out. I could not imagine myself compared with Vo who is indeed a great man. At least I fulfilled my promise to help you to find him. That much I managed to do. I wish I could be happy for both of you, but as I told you, I begun to dream about us together. I am sorry about that because it complicates your life. Maybe that's why I wanted to drown, so you don't have to have that dilemma. That would have been a solution - I would have been out of sight forever and after period of grieving you could go on with your life. 

You are perfect girl. Even with that Volge inside you. And I am Volodja Uljanov. Man with complicated past and almost non existent personal life. But now you saved me so I can help at least to save innocents. And even if I have to wait for another chance for us to become true, I love you, Belle. I just want you to know that. And I do wish that my love would have been more selfless. If you have to blame someone then it's me. I should have acted right away or hold myself totally back."

And Volodja kept treating her eyes with compress as much as it was possible. He can do at least as much to repay his debt to Belle for saving his life. At least treating her was a selfless act again.

Chase had gotten turned around under the water, and lost track of Volodja. He managed to find another air pocket, giving him a chance to breathe.

McCoy, can you detect the others?

Yes, but barely.

Get me going then.

He took another deep breath, following the pink market and distance indicator. Chase had to surface a couple of more times until he was able to come up where everyone else was waiting.

"Now I know what The Poseidon Adventure feels like," he said as he pulled himself up out of the water.

He found Volodja and Belle. And it appeared he inadvertently intruded on a personal moment between the two.

"Sorry," he said, carefully lowering himself back into the water and submerging underneath for a minute, giving them a chance to wrap up whatever was going on between them.

Say, did you know the World Record for the longest anyone has held their breath underwater is 22 minutes? McCoy asked Chase. Fun little fact.

Lena was quiet as they made there way to the vehicles with the two rescued children which was unusual for her for when she worked with a team she was usually ready with a witty quip or two. At another time, she might have made a joke about the late Zoxx losing his head over the situation or having a split personality once Atticus informed them of the child molester's death, but in fact the whole encounter so far had brought up so many bad memories to her mind, for Lena's whole childhood had been one long child molestation.

Lena didn't notice Marcel's preoccupation with memories of Volodja as they ran along, for in fact, Lena was selfish and preoccupied with herself most of the time. Lena's circle of concern had broadened by one when she fell in love with Marcel, but even that centered on her and her pleasure. True, she would please him too, but only when it pleased her as well. She realized that the fact that pleasing him pleased her was unusual for her, but if she thought about it too hard it made her head hurt, so she didn't try to analyze it, just went with the flow of mutual enjoyment.

The situation with Gil, the Crimelord Askaru's thirteen year old son who she chose not to kill in the tunnels when she had the chance to, confused Lena. All her instincts, as well all the voices in her head but Hope's, screamed that decision was going to bite her in the ass in the future, but she let Gil live anyway. As a professional psychotic killer, her sparing him embarrassed her as well, for the decision was so... unprofessional!

Lena was hoping that neither Marcel or Taffer would ask her about it, although she thought that one of them would inevitably do so and she would be mortified when she told the truth, so she was already considering lying about it. "I left him for dead" or "He ran away and I couldn't catch him" were the lies that got the most votes by the voices in her head representing the seven deadly sins. Hope, her newest voice, just said admit it and hope for the best.

"Hope, you are a silly ass!" Thought Lena as she ran, shooting dead with her blackened hellfire blaster another Askaru thug in her way.

As they finally got to the getaway vehicles, Lena looked around at her surroundings, then remarked to Marcel, "You know on second thought, Lima really is a cesspool! I don't need an estate here! Now in the Bay Area, maybe so! I wonder how much Ara Shondu wants for her old place?"

Vo sighed with relief and smiled, seeing Volodja's EGO signal again. He hated to think he could lose the friend who actually came to rescue him, and of course he didn't want Belle to come through another loss of someone she loved right after she had just recovered from the presumable loss of him.

As the drone didn't surface, he had to make the swimming himself, like Volodja and Chase did before him. He was a good and agile swimmer, but still wasn't sure he won't get a sudden panic attack because of his near-death experience when he almost died back there when he was held in the glass coffin which turned out to be a life pod and finally was turned into a submersible. Now he had no technical devices to rely on except his EGO, so he opted to tread on a safe side. He dived first time to see the underwater tunnel entrance, and made Doc note the first air pocket. Then he surfaced, took a deep breath and swam to it, while Doc took a note of the next one. Next one was further away, so he activated blur to swim faster and reached that air pocket and the next one with it. Next one was far away as well, so he used a power stim to recharge his blur quickly.

He finally surfaced where his group gathered and Kaj helped him to the shore. He was morally exhausted more than physically, but smiled nevertheless upon seeing all his friends alive. He beckoned Belle with his hand remembering her request and lead her to one of the Indogenes.

"Here's Fiel, he's the Top Hat here", Vo introduced him while the Indogene rolled up his eyes at the title he gave him. "And here's Belle, the Top Hat of our team I told you of. She says she has a plan on how to remedy all his aesthetic situation, so I hope you'll find a common ground very soon."

Then he left them discuss the matter at hand and walked up to Volodja. He didn't know how to start this conversation so he began it straight to the point.

"Volo, Belle told me about you and her. First of all I thank you for keeping her going and helping her recover. Second, I'm glad to see you alive. And third, I left it for Belle to decide who she wants to be on her side, but regardless of what her choice will be, I look on you as my friend and want it to stay this way"

He extended his hand for a handshake and smiled to the man with a confident smile and said, "Eseneziri (Irathient greeting. literally "Without weapons or concealed intentions"). Friends?"

After Marcel asked his question, Lena Marr looked like a deer caught in the headlights on an oncoming car, staring at him with large unblinking sky blue eyes as she exclaimed, the words racing out like greyhounds out of a starting gate, "What mission? I had a mission? I thought my mission was our mission! We got the kids, and that was our mission, so I guess our mission went well! What are you implying? I killed plenty of people! I'm a professional! Are you saying I didn't do my part? I did my drekking part! Don't pick on me! I did everything I could! That's okay, I forgive you! All's well that ends well!"

With that, she hugged him briefly and gave him a short but passionate kiss, then began shooting at Askaru's remaining men, saying as she did, "Glad we got that settled! Love you much!"

Sandy Bell overheard, but just shook her head slightly as she continued to fire her pistol, but mumbled out loud, "That girl is crazy as a fucking loon."

Meanwhile, Erika Widowmaker checked on the six year old Marla, taking her bloody panties off and cleaning her wound with water from her canteen. It wasn't the first time she practiced battlefield medicine, nor the first time she did so on children Marla's age, but the first time she had for such horrible wounds. For the first time in a very long time, tears fell out of Erika's jade green eyes as she bandaged her grand-daughter.

Belle Starr smiled confidently as she shook Fiel's hand, saying, "I'm Belle Starr, Director of Security Analysis for VBI! Pleased to meet you, Mr. Mayor! I can tell that title makes y'all uncomfortable, so I'll just call you Fiel and y'all please call me Belle, okay?"

Belle waited for Fiel to nod at her in assent before continuing, seeing him regard her with more than a little skepticism, so she began as she pulled out her data pad from her coat pocket, "Listen, y'all don't know me from Adam, but for this plan to even begin to work means y'all have to trust me! Y'all know Vo, and he trusts me, so I hope you will to! First of all, let me stress that this is a short term solution, for if Esthete is degrading, or going mad as a hatter, as my Indogene friends here think, then he may not care about any agreement that benefits him and Red Deer! We don't have a lot of time so I'm not going to mince words!"

Belle bought up a standard contract form, the blank spaces already filled in preparation of his meeting, although she quickly typed in Fiel's name at the bottom, before handing it him to look at as she spoke, "As the designated leader of this community, I'm asking you to sell your village to VBI for the price of one scrip! I know this sounds crazy from the start, but hear me out! If you agree, this community is then by the terms of the contract designated a VBI Trading Depot and all it's citizens VBI employees, thus putting you under the protection of VBI! Red Deer, and therefore Esthete by extrapolation, owe much of their economic well-being to VBI, which is why I sent my un-enhanced team mate to refuge in the VBI factory topside! As an AI that seems to put self-preservation first, including economic well being, I don't think it will want to cut off the financial benefits of working with VBI, which it would if it attacked VBI's property or killed it's employees wholesale! Esthete might be able to explain how a few employees died in an accident, but not hundreds!"

"Now here's the part of my plan my team is going to have a hard time swallowing," Belle said as she turned to her friends, focusing her blue diamond eyes on Volodja Uljanov and Vo Kshaa in particular, "If you sign the agreement and once I send it to VBI headquaters, I'm sure I'll have to go unarmed and alone to present it to Esthete or his representative! I'm hoping that I can just do that with one of his drones, but there is a large possibility that he will want to see me in-person, and I doubt he'll allow me to bring an armed posse with me! Y'all will have to let me go, and hopefully concoct a long term solution to Esthete while I buy us time! Keep in mind, if you destroy Esthete completely, y'all might just be destroying yourselves as well, for he seems to be what's standing between y'all and your Gulanee and Biomen enemies nearby!"

Belle took a deep breath as she stared at Fiel with intense blue diamond eyes, trying to get a read on what he was thinking but not able as her smile disappeared from her beautiful freckled face replaced by a grim look, saying as a matter of fact, "We could just hunker down here and fight Esthete's forces off, and I'm pretty darn sure my team would support y'all, but that is their individual decisions! Since they may very well be sacrificing their lives defending the Alamo, I'm sure as shooting not going to make that decision for them! I will stay for sure! But if y'all do, know a lot of your folk, maybe all of your folk, including your children and old ones, will probably die! My plan has a chance of avoiding bloodshed, and once all the fur has finished flying, we can rescind the contract if you want, although you might find that affiliation with VBI could ensure economic stability here, but that's your choice! What y'all say, Fiel? Do we have a deal or do we put the wagons in a circle and I go scrounging for some ammo spikes?"

Fiel briefly looked through the contract and shook his hand with a sigh.

"It would be a great solution if it could work, but I'm afraid it can't. The reason is pretty simple. I don't own the village or this ground therefore I can't sell it. The village is located right under the Red Deer, so all this territory is still a property of the city of Red Deer. Officially we all are squatters and should be evicted for this land to be used by their legitimate owners up above. The only reason why we were still living here was no one seemed to care about us or someone had profits from buying our goods for cheap and smuggling them for the residents above. Until now I guess, when someone decided we're not welcome here anymore. Any deals which are connected with selling off a part of the territory of Red Deer must be confirmed by five of six members of Inner Circle unless the city laws changed since I was above. Renting out any territory requires only four votes of six, but still the underground territories must be separated from the territory above first and I doubt many current owners would agree on that."

Lu rose from the place where she were sitting cross-legged and interrupted him, "Hey, hey. You said the underground territory belongs to those who own those areas above, right? There's a VBI compound on the territory of Red Deer, right? The compound is a demilitarized zone or how you business suits call it? Its security is provided by VBI themselves and Esthete's security drones have no right to access it by their contract, right? Now, if there's a VBI area above, then the same area below it is a VBI territory too and it can be used as a safe haven or all these people before we find any solution. Even better, those drones do not receive signals when they are underground so they have to rely on pre-programming. Bet then, they can't determine the borders of the restricted area because their positioning does not work as well. And that means no drones can operate even close to a VBI underground territory if there is any possibility they could trespass the restricted border due to their positioning error. The problem is, someone still has to put all this into the Esthete's digital head."