Cargo 069

Short novel

Sci-Fi Thriller

© Alexander Skuridin, 2020

© International Union of writers, 2020

Alexander Skuridin

Alexander Nikolayevich Skuridin is a member of the Writers' Union of Russia since 1998. Was bom in Georgia. He studied at the Ukhta Industrial Institute with a degree in geology and exploration of oil and gas fields (Ukhta, Komi).

Author of several books of prose. Recent publications: the fantastic novel “Maria. Future Visitor” (ERA, Moscow, 2014).

In 2018 novel “Operation of “Marlboro” published by “International Union of Writers” (Moscow). In the same year, under the aegis “International Union of writers” the competition of books passed in English language. Story “Cargo 069” brought the rank of laureate and medal of V. Nabokov to the author. A book prepares to edition in London.

This year in Moscow (publishing house “ISP”) will be published a novel it “Hunts on “Bargusin”.

Chapter 1

Major Archibald Gottlieb was preparing a report in his tiny office. He was in an awful mood. The commanders demanded only the highest results, but he didn’t have any. US battle mages have just started full-fledged activities against their perpetual nemesis – Russia.

For sure, there has been some success and not just tactical one. The guys from Gottlieb’s team managed to intrude into Russia’s holy of holies – the shipyards where atomic submarines were built – and even dawdle over some novelties in submarines introduced by Russians. What happened next was a complete disaster. Antipodes of the enemy’s battle psychics team learned how to put the block and all the efforts of battle mages withered on the vine.

Mages and psychics… such distinction of terms was introduced by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Wood, commander of a special, separate, top-secret military unit. As the Russians say, there is a small choice in rotten apples…

A mage is a completely different category meaning the universality of the individual, his ability to blend with nature and after all, to control it. “This is a higher level than an odious psychic!” he solemnly declared at the banquet on occasion of the President’s decree on the creation of the “fighting fighters” military unit.

“Warriors…” he snorted in anger raising his glass of champagne. “We are not some stupid infantrymen with a grenade and an assault rifle, but intellectuals, the brains of the entire army.” Here’s to us, mages!..

This idiot Wood reckoned himself in this glorious category! He doesn’t know shit from the real sensitive job. All he can do is read information in the team, that’s all. A real sensitive or a mage for Wood is always a lone wolf. He can easily go beyond the limits of everyday life and soar, without any collective efforts to support him!

But after one of the best mages, Harry Menvil, was killed in the astral duel, the commander issued an order: “Henceforth, you shall not get directly involved in any sensitive war with Russians without an order”. This was actually right: the battle mages never managed to find out the identity of the cool Russian psychic or even to get a bit closer to the place where the Russian astral group was based. These uneasy Russian guys were surrounded by a powerful permanent force screen, which none of the battle mages could get through.

However, Miss Gordon promised to overcome this barrier since, as she assured, Dirty Harry energetically nourished her from the other world even after his death.

You never know what a hysterical woman can imagine, but her capabilities have increased many times. It was not only confirmed by many battle mages, but also evidences by laboratory equipment.

And it was the moment when Archibald Gottlieb faced a dilemma. The decision was: to let miss Gordon show herself… well, not as a lone wolf but at least as an astral she-wolf or, on the opposite, to stop the enthusiasm of the Furious Betsy (this is how they called her at the mages base).

Think, Archi, think!..

Chapter 2

Lieutenant General Larin and Colonel Burlak were in Leonid Mikhailovich’s office. The conversation was slow and thorough.

Officially, Sergei Petrovich came to his friend’s office early in the morning with an inspection. The commanders finally understood the significance of the unusual military unit headed by the Colonel. A security operation called BZHRK “Barguzin” was brilliantly performed and impressed even the Chief of the General Staff. There were many other astral developments among Burlak’s achievements which showed excellent results. The Main Intelligence Directorate and the General Staff, for example, now had a file where the exact routes of the US nuclear submarines were indicated. Also, they could regularly update the coordinates of submarines in the sea depths. As the famous song says, “the intelligence was accurate in reporting…” And this was done not just by intelligence (strategic or other) but the astral one!

The battle mages team was finally transformed into a full-fledged military unit. They received their own flag, their own seal and other attributes appropriate in such cases. There appeared an economic unit, security unit, communication unit, combat maneuver unit, and a clothing department. From now on, they even had their canteen…

Larin and Burlak walked along the corridor to the classroom where the senior group had classes. It was senior not by students’ age but by their skills. These people, in fact, were not students. They were the best military psychics ever.

However, even they had to learn some professional tricks so that to apply them directly on the fly. This was because the techniques worked out by the predecessors – military sensitives of General Alexei Yuryevich Savin – were coming back to life. After all, the esoteric science today does not stand still…

Burlak quietly opened the door of the senior class. Lieutenant Colonel Bystrov, head of the class, made an astonished face when he saw the Colonel and the General. But, contrary to the regulations, he did not make the mandatory commands “Stand up!..” or “Attention!..” This was discussed in an instruction issued by the office: nothing and no one should interfere with the servicemen’s trance. But if they were engaged in purely theoretical discipline, His Majesty Regulations automatically entered into effect.

Burlak gave a sign to Bystrov with his hand: “Go on…”

General and Colonel quietly passed through the classroom and sat down at a vacant back table. Larin carefully looked at the group.

There was no ordinary army subordination: all of them were psychics and all of them were equal. In the difficult moment of otherworldly battle, a mutual assistance and an unconditional willingness to help a fellow man is required. There, in the astral, ranks mean nothing. What really mattered was the astral fighter’s power available, his professional skills and abilities. An important factor was the high moral component of personality, lack of selfadmiration and selfishness. All this was preliminarily checked by a special test where the aura of the tested “said” all the truth about its owner.

Meanwhile, fourteen people sitting at the tables began to return to their normal state with the help of Lieutenant Colonel Bystrov.

Lieutenant General peered intently at their faces and saw no confusion. As if eleven men and three women had just come from their familiar world and sat at their tables in the classroom.

“Cadets, please describe the places you visited,” said Dmitry.

Cadets leaned over blank sheets of paper and began to write what the head required with simple ball pens.

“Why can’t you put computers here?” Larin asked Burlak quietly.

“We can’t, Comrade General. Electromagnetic fields affect the ability to clairvoyance. We even have direct current lighting here. I had to install extra equipment for this.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Bystrov entered test results to his mobile phone and issued the final verdict:

“Ninety-eight percent of coincidences. This is our absolute record so far.”

No applause, no other emotions.

“Well done,” Larin praised the cadets. “I see that everyone is at peace with their own psyche as if they left for some time and returned again.”

When General and Colonel got up and moved along the tables, Lieutenant Colonel said loudly:

“Stand up!… Attention!..”

The cadets jumped up. Dmitry Bystrov continued:

“Comrade Lieutenant General!.. The senior training group has a practical class! Head of the group Lieutenant Colonel Bystrov!” Larin threw his hand up to his cap:

“Hello, comrades!..”

The audience shouted loudly:

“Greetings, Comrade Lieutenant General!”

The inspector dropped his hand and said warmly:

“At ease…”

Soon a trust conversation started between him and the cadets. It was about the studies, the service as a whole, about the goals and tasks of the newly formed unit, which was so important for the security of the country.

Early in the evening, Sergei Petrovich was summoned to the office of the Deputy Head of the Directorate.

Larin was very alert as he did not like sudden calls to his chiefs but arrived at the appointed time without showing it to anyone.

In his head, he scrolled all the potential flaws in the activities of the analytical department entrusted to him. He could not find any sedition.

But, as you know, man plans and boss laughs. As a man with great powers, he had a special view of reality. So he could easily see white as black or vice versa if he wanted.

Although the Directorate has always tried to have people with positive and objective thinking on top positions… But… none of the subordinates is immune from any unforeseen bossy trick. You never know if he has a sudden bee in the bonnet or his mood is spoiled after a dialog with his quarrelsome wife in the morning. The ways of bosses are sometimes inscrutable.

Lieutenant Colonel’s personal assistant opened the door and said:

“Come in, Lieutenant General is waiting for you.”

After a brief meaningless greeting, Larin sat down on a chair suggested by the office owner and expressed maximum attention on his face. Naturally, attention was not bordered on servility. The Main Intelligence Directorate did not like active opportunists but, as elsewhere in the country, it was worth keeping an eye on when talking with someone who, in fact, controlled you. Even a tiny part of inattention could spoil curator’s perception of the supervisee.

Heck!..

Larin did not like to wear an intelligent face just like that, although he knew that the person sitting at the end of the table likes others to eat out of his hands.

“Why do we need these virtualists?” asked Lieutenant General and found like-minded people of a smaller range in this regards.

But after a couple of successful missions, Lieutenant General changed his mind. This happened as soon as he learned that the head of the General Staff himself was satisfied with the result of the secret unit. And now the deputy of “the One” was an admirer of Burlak’s team..

“How is Leonid Mikhailovich? As far as I know, Sergei Petrovich, you visited him this morning, which means that you are aware of the whole information,” he wondered with an encouraging smile on his lean face.

“Colonel Burlak is ready to fight, in an astral sense of course,” Larin said convincingly and explained: “His people are studying a very difficult but quite effective method of transferring consciousness to a specific recipient. Our success in intelligence mainly depends on how well it will be mastered.”

“Tell me more, Sergey Petrovich.”

The Head of Directorate’s Analytical Department started to share the details.

Chapter 3

Dmitry had a difficult day today.

He was strenuously mastering a rare technique… the transfer of consciousness into another person’s body. The difficulty lied in the fact that a transferring person has not only the opportunity to see and hear the same things the recipient does but also to become his “companion” in consciousness. It turned out that the consciousness of the carrier and the transferring person could become one. The only good thing was that the settler could realize it while his counterpart couldn’t!

However, first experiments in transferring to the “rulers of destinies” did not give the desired effect. All the people on top of power, without exception, were protected by some mighty force. This force did not allow such a symbiosis to be possible.

Pity. If the experiment was a success, it would be easy to learn all the secrets and hidden thoughts of any ruler. The tasks in the country’s national security, in this case, would be substantially simplified.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel was solving a simple task. He just transferred to… his friend Victor Kotov. And he completely succeeded!

According to experiment tasks, Victor closed his eyes and wrote what he thought. Dmitry read it from his brain being in Kotov’s head. He saw everything with his friend’s eyes!

The whole procedure of consciousness transfer was practiced in Tibet a long time ago. The expedition sent there by the heads of the Main Intelligence Directorate brought a lot of useful information in this regards. However, there was a certain difficulty: the Chinese authorities had not long allowed to enter their controlled territory. They also did their best to control the expedition activity in this mountainous region. Naturally, the expedition experts presented themselves as civilians. They did manage to get some relics…

It was a start. But there was one more, the more promising direction in the process of consciousness transferring: the use of an energy twin. The method of creating such an assistant was obtained on the very last day of the Tibetan expedition. It was given by the Lama under the strictest prohibition to disclose it. Otherwise, as Lama said, his monastery storing ancient knowledge could be persecuted by the Chinese authorities. The abbot of the monastery decided to help the Russians secretly, as there were mentions in ancient Buddhist manuscripts about a Northern country which brings light to the whole world.

And now Dmitry began to use this esoteric knowledge that was so difficult to obtain. The first experience of using an energy twin turned out to be successful let alone the headache when pumping the “twin” with internal content. But such a pain was a passing factor, a so-called side effect.

Thus, under the supervision of the parapsychology laboratory staff, Dmitry “transferred” to Victor. Zener cards and all the equipment had a purely applied value.

But for Lieutenant Colonel Bystrov as a person, the coexistence of two personalities in one “vessel” was a kind of shock. Even such a small desire like peeing caused a reaction of uttermost plausibility. And when the experimenter pricked Kot’s finger with a needle, Dmitry felt the pain in full. He and Victor were the one and completely identical!

Bystrov’s body at that moment laid peacefully on the couch and seemed completely lifeless. To him, while being in Kotov, the situation resembled the famous “Avatar” movie. The experiment was recognized as successful as a whole but required careful verification and complication of further parameters for its implementation.

Chapter 4

The unit commander and his deputy were sitting in the so-called “corner”: a recreation place after numerous hard tasks. There were two armchairs where they could relax contemplating the decorative fish in the aquarium on a small table under a real palm tree in a tub. For greater detachment from endless pressing problems, Henry Wood turned on the aquarium lighting and quiet music.

It was a routine ritual. As Lieutenant Colonel said, ten minutes of staying in the “comer” could substitute a two-hour sleep. Of course, it was not recommended to sleep at work. But service in the magical military unit required mandatory relaxation of the staff. After lunch, everyone had a relaxation session. Many mages fell asleep listening to relaxing music and lying on the couches. But these were real and necessary features of a purely specific work.

“It would be nice for me to have a similar corner,” thought Archibald Gottlieb. “We’ll have to talk to Henry until the final budget of the unit is approved”.

The Major did not just deputize Wood but was formally known as the “Deputy Commander of the Unit for the Practical

Application of Combat Sensitive Skills”. This meant that he, Gottlieb, was the most important figure in the newly created military unit. Like it or not, he was the person to be appreciated and cherished. However, it was Henry who skimmed the cream off, Henry who did not know a damn thing about the practical magic, well, almost a damn thing…

After ten minutes of relaxation, the commander and his deputy moved from their seats to their places. Pedant Wood sat at the end of the table, while Archibald Gottlieb sat aside. A classic scheme!..

Lieutenant Colonel placed pencils and pens in a pencil case strictly by the size, made a lean official face and asked shortly:

“What do you have, Major?”

“Miss Betsy Gordon is asking to breach the defense of the Russians.”

“What defense, God damn it? Can you be more precise?”

“Yes, Sir! Miss Gordon, one of (our) best mages, wants to revenge for the death of Harry Menvil, her child’s father.

“To revenge! I told you we shouldn’t be driven by revenge,” Wood said angrily.

“Then by what?” replied Gottlieb noticing a tiny gap in the defensive redoubts of his boss.

“Our cold mind, Archie. So, is our madam really that good? I mean, in a sensitive way,” Lieutenant Colonel added quickly fearing that Major would understand him wrong.

“Well, she’s not Astral Harry but something close to that.”

They went silent thinking their own thoughts.

From Wood’s point of view, “Betsey” mission was worth it, especially since there has been a delayed calm on the astral front. And bosses usually become irritable if you don’t please them with successes, even if they are small.

Major Gottlieb’s point of view in this strategically important issue coincided with the Wood’s one. However, he had his own opinion too. The mission would certainly stir up the battle mages’ activity and strengthen their enthusiasm for service. This was obvious, since any individual access to the infrared space required the maximum support of the entire sensitive community. And if Miss Gordon succeeded, his efforts – the efforts of Archibald Gottlieb – would definitely be noticed. He could certainly gain considerable points in this hard game called life. No wonder the Scripture says: “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you”.

Henry Wood promised to issue an appropriate order, so the Deputy Commander of the Unit for Practical Application of Sensitive Skills left the office. He forgot to ask whether they could render him the same relax “corner” he, Archibald Gottlieb, certainly deserved for his important and responsible position.

Well, it shall not open if you don’t knock…

Chapter 5

“Sergei Petrovich, let’s leave this topic. I mean, this… consciousness transfer, right. You’re trying to say that anyone can easily transfer to the body of another person?” the Analytical Department curator said thoughtfully, pushing aside the papers containing Larin’s written report on the newly formed military unit.

He took his thin little glasses off his nose and started to twirl them in his narrow long fingers. It seemed like he admired his dexterity as he twisted his glasses. But suddenly they slipped onto the polished table. The glasses arms turned upwards resembling a man who fell on his back with his limbs up. Lieutenant General frowned.

“You do know what might happen?” he forced out strained. “And… what exactly, Igor Ivanovich?” Larin asked cautiously as he couldn’t understand the reason why his boss’s mood changed. Obviously, it was not because of the glasses?..

Lieutenant General was sometimes called Eagle for his flexibility, the ability to maneuver and for the consonance of his name with the famous bird. Sometimes, in a narrow circle, someone even made mistakes, mentioning the witty Deputy Head of the department who knew how to get out of any delicate situation: “Eagle Ivanovich said yesterday…”

But words that flew out of the office owner’s mouth were not from yesterday, they were told today, right now:

“Up there,” he made a characteristic gesture pointing index finger to the ceiling. “They can interpret your obsession with Colonel Burlak in a different way.”

For a moment there was a silence in the office.

“Let me explain,” said Igor Ivanovich. For some reason he put his anemic glasses on his nose again, perhaps, to be more persuasive in a hard conversation with the stubborn analyst. “The fact is that anyone can use this opportunity. Imagine, Comrade Larin, someone who can also transfer to the One.

“The One?” exclaimed Sergei Petrovich. “What exactly do you mean?”

“This is exactly what I mean! This experimenter of yours can enter the consciousness of, say, our President. Our President, as you know, is also the Commander-in-Chief!”

“Yes, that’s… but wait, what’s the point in…” Larin startled to find the right words surprised by the unexpected Eagle’s speech. Igor Petrovich interrupted his subordinate:

“Why do you think they dissolved a similar unit headed by General Savin? You know it!.. And you also know how much the heroes of that legendary unit have done for the Motherland. And then bang! – they are dissolved!..”

“Then what should Colonel Burlak’s boys do?” Larin asked in amazement, surprised more by the short inappropriate slang word “bang”.

“Let them continue. They are doing the right thing, since the Americans are trying to attack us lifting their tails. We should cut their tails off so that we could see their asses! But we should not get into all these transfers and settlements.”

“Is this your official opinion, Comrade Lieutenant General?” The analyst asked with pressure.

“Just a recommendation, nothing more!” laughed the office owner. “Sergei Petrovich, please do not take it to heart. But… no arbitrariness in the direction indicated.” Lieutenant General was pleased with the fact that he explained the whole thing to his zealous subordinate so he uttered the words from Larin’s report: “Recipient! Percipient!..”[1]

He turned his head with a certain admiration for the wise terms he learned.

After coming back to his office, General Larin called the commander of the secret military unit to have the so-called “negotiations”.

The negotiations between the head of Analytical Department and Colonel Burlak were pretty short. Leonid Mikhailovich was not surprised by Eagle’s Solomon decision and suggested, as he said, an “alternative solution”:

“Sergei Petrovich, you should explain to Lieutenant General that we have the opportunity to put a hypnotic block against the experimenters. In this case, they will not be able to influence our political elite in any way.”

“I’m afraid that Igor Ivanovich,” General emphasized his boss’s name, “will not be satisfied with this measure because of… some features of his character.”

“The trait of being careful first of all!” The Colonel said cheerfully.

“I didn’t say that, Leonid Mikhailovich!” Larin allowed himself to smile.

“But we both thought about it…” Burlak suddenly went serious and made a suggestion: “I know how can we impress our dearest Igor Ivanovich. Lieutenant General, you will need to convince our Deputy Head that the Americans have already started preparing for such a settlement.

First, it gives a unique opportunity to control any politician. Second, it’s a way to physical immortality. Why wouldn’t our Commander-In-Chief clone himself, for example, and then easily transfer the consciousness into his own clone?”

“Is that really possible?..” “Well, it’s not us who’ll decide on the clone,” General replied to the long Colonel’s speech and turned thoughtful. “As for the Americans… that’s a great idea.” Our curator will definitely agree with the suggestion to throw cold water on the frisky Yankees. Meanwhile, let Lieutenant Colonel Bystrov and Captain Kotov work out the program. And then, well, let’s see. I also think that the advanced level of the Americans in this will force our dearest Igor Ivanovich to take a fresh look at the essence of the issue.