by Axxell » Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:31 pm
Table 27 of the Dragon Tavern on Dundorf Road, Karstadt
In the tavern at that time there was not too many people, but it was not even empty, with people in several tables and someone sitting at the bar, the owner could not complain as with the arrival of Wolfshein's infection in the capital the people from months avoided crowded places.
More than half of the people were wearing a face mask, someone the gloves too, but with the onset of vaccine administration even in Hulstria, more and more people were beginning to avoid wearing certain protections.
The man at table 27, however, kept his mask well placed on his face, paying attention to shifting it just enough for every swing of beer that alternated with long times looking the smartphone. It was nine days that he spend the day at the tavern and for eight days every night he returned to his hotel only with so much beer in his stomach.
It was seven o'clock in the afternoon, he was there since the opening of the tavern in the morning at noon and he had to wait at least eleven o'clock before he could go. Fortunately, he was not the only one who was spending his days stinging with alcohol, though his beers lasted a lot longer than the others. There were so many people who preferred hole up into those place, both Karstadtians and people fleeing from the regions most affected by the Infection.
People who prefers not to go to work, who had left the job at hundreds of miles from there or who simply want forget their loved ones taken away by the Infection.
The door of the tavern opened again, the light from the street flooded the room in the twilight typical of those places and like he does every time the man looked up to carefully check who the new or the newcomers were. Since when he started to go to that tavern, most often he recognized just the typical drunkards who attended that place, a couple of times he found himself showing the documents along with other clients during a police patrol, but the figure he saw this time standing in front of the strong light coming from the street immediately attracted his attention.
The door closed and no longer the light outside dazzled him and so he could clearly distinguish a woman, maybe thirty years old, beautiful athletic body, amber skin, black hair like coal and exotic look, had to be majatran or something like that. He was dressed elegantly with a fine stripped light gray suite, a raincoat and a black umbrella to protect herself from the wind and autumn rain that regularly swept Karstadt.
He stood on the door to close the umbrella before leaving it in the stand at the entrance, but she was looking carefully around, she tried not to keep it cool to the other eyes but the man at table 27 was too focused on her not to notice it and finally their eyes crossed.
The woman then laid the umbrella and by saying goodbye to the owner he headed directly to table 27, tactically chosen to be at the opposite corner of the entrance but also near the back door into the kitchens.
The woman finally stopped in front of him, stared at him for a few seconds and then sat on the other side of the table while she unbuttoned the raincoat.
"it is three days that it rains, and even does not seems it will diminishe", she exclaimed in fluent dundorfian, even though he felt the foreign accent.
"It's normal for this season..." he answered, staring at her eyes in search of the answer he wanted, but the woman remained silent for a few seconds, then settling her purse next to her and pulling away a lock of her thick curly hair from the eyes she said:
"I'm sorry to have made you wait so much, anyway, the place looks safe"
"it's safe!" the woman for a second looked at the owner behind the bar, then she answer:
"good... well, the authorities are tightening their stranglehold against you Commies!"
"while the rest of the world comes to terms with these pigs"
"the Infection has upset the plans of everyone"
"Now the cure has been found, but in Ostland the humanitarian mission is going arm to arm with the Hulstrian soldiers and all the world are watching while hundreds are segregated in the asylum"
"what good will be liberate a country if its inhabitants died for the epidemic? And anyway, it seems to me that you have found your international answer, we are here to speak"
"we are... well, why do not you tell me who you are now?"
"friends"
"Friends? That's it?"
"friends who have been in Hulstria for decades and who have supported many people like you as possible"
"do you want to be very mysterious... and we should accept your help without even knowing from who it comes?"
"just for the moment"
"Our leader has an idea about this"
"Really?"
"aye, but you do not give me the idea you come from there"
"it means they have chosen the right person!"
"how did you come in if you came from there? Do you have a fake passport? I'm asking you because we need someone good with counterfeit documents"
"we can postpone similar questions, now what we have to do is to establish a safe and reliable link between us and then try to put together you with all the other subversive movements and groups, fortunately there are not only the prodigious comrades wanting to kick in ass Nimitz"
"we are already in contact with other groups..."
"You have to do it with everyone! I hope you will leave ideological issues apart from commenting on who you are to work with, because we are also in contact with monarchists and conservatives! Believe it or not, as I said, you are not the only ones who have enough of Nimiz and the suprematists"
"mmm... the boss will have to complaint..."
"What did you expect? The comrade Metz who comes with a big fanfare and the red flags in the wind? Say to your boss that if the regime ever falls, we will do everything to leave the country in the hands of a democracy!"
"well... I could say that if it ever falls, then how the country will be is our business"
"Not so fast! For half a century, Hulstria has done nothing but threaten world stability, we will not allow it to pass from a totalitarian regime to anarchy or worse... that another regime arises, so if you want our assistance you have to give us precise assurances about your willingness to collaborate to pursue one and only one goal: the fall of the regime! We are ready to assist you financially, to provide you weapons, explosives and even some military means if you need, to support you diplomatically when it is the time and to assist you strategically for organizing and conducting your operations, but we do not want private feuding inside the resistance, we need serious people and not to waste time in stupid spite or worse... discovery someone working to hurt other ones in the resistance, is it clear? "
The man remained silent for a few seconds looking at the serious and resolute face of the woman, then took a swing of beer and said, putting the glass down:
"should we accept, how would you will give us these aids?"
"The border with Sekowo is not controlled as much as others and I can tell you that they have already assured us that they no longer want to work with Karstadt, rather they would like to do more to assiste the international forces, but it is too eraly now for this"
"And the Army? The Secret Police? We are in a state of police!"
"a collapsing police state with armed forces who have suffered serious losses due to the infection and the Karlstadt's indifference and who... do not see any positive future with Nimitz in power"
"Do you have contacts with them too?"
"We keep in touch with anyone who wants to see Nimitz's head stuffed on a pike!"
"but with the military... they just want to replace Nimitz with another 'big prick'!"
"This is a fifth column inside the armed forces, they can not do anything on their own, just like you: we do not demand compromises only from the Communists!"
The man took another beer, but he sent it down slowly, taking the time to think, then laid the glass:
"And how do we keep in touch? Where do you have your... base? And where, how and when to meet the other rebel groups?"
"one thing at a time comrade! For the moment I think it's better to get away from Karstadt, just leaving here some informants and sleeper agents"
"Sleeper agents?"
"trained people who will wait until the last to hit the enemy in the back while he is busy fighting the main assault"
"and where should we leave?"
"in a safe place and as far away as possible, far from large residential centers and where we can come and go without being seen, we are carefully analyzing Hulstria from the satellite for..."
"We have such a place!"
"really?"
"To break the ass to these sons of bitch we need men who can use an arm, we need soldiers who follow very precise tactics, we needed a training camp"
"and where is it?"
"For the moment I just tell you tha it's on the mountains to the east, not too far from the border with the Ostland, but the army is too busy looking out to see us, furthermore the area is impervious and little inhabited, forests for hundreds of miles all around "
"Great! We have to meet again this time your boss with the mine and then arrange for all the various rebel leaders will reach the Camp"
"Before you can see where we are organizing, we should first organize a meeting and watch us all in the eye! There are political refugees and families in our base, we do not want to put them in danger until we are sure we are not shaking hands with some spy "
"No problem! Well, hold this" the woman pulled a little smartphone out of her handbag and slipped it on the table to the man "use this to call us. It's full of random numbers from the yellow pages but we've installed a software so that anyone you call will be redirected to us! Do you have a name with which we can call you? Will always answer the same person with a distortion program of the voice and will greet you always by calling you by name, like if he know you. So... if someone would like check your phone... but... the name?"
"Felix Schauble"
"Very good... Felix" the woman got up and started wearing the raincoat "we'll call you on this phone when we will have the green light from all the other groups"
"I hope you will not make us wait for another 10 days"
"it does not depend on us, but in the name of my superiors I reconfirm you that you are not alone and that we will do our best to assist you... ah... before I leave, we would prefer that no declarations or announcements be made, even vaguely, about an external support to you: unfortunately, not all Governments are like mine and there is this new foreign administration which already threatens us of public revelations if they know that we are helping you"
"Who the hell are these damn shit children?"
"Maybe we'll say you another time, now I have to go. It was a pleasure Felix, see you next time!"
"hey... I said to you the name!"
"you gave me A name!"
"Well... still it's something, right? Don't you have A name to give me?"
The woman smiled, took her purse, and turned when she said smiling before leaving:
"For the moment Faatin could work!"
Alleanza Radicale (Radical Alliance) - Istalia (Active)