“Lieutenant Colonel, you violated the pact by manufacturing and storing nuclear weapons, didn’t you?”
“...Yes.”
“And New World is secretly funded by Russia, isn’t it?”
“...Yes.”
“And they tried to have the members of Chernobog killed to prevent them from leaking information that might harm them, didn’t they?”
“...Yes.”
“And Dr. Sandra quit the research institute because her theories were considered absurd and she felt that even you, the one person who’d believed in her, had given up on her. Correct?”
“...Yes.”
“Do you still love Dr. Sandra?”
“Of course.”
“Would you be willing to cooperate with me as long as it doesn’t conflict with national interests?”
“I’ll cooperate! Just, please, no more of this. I’m begging you.”
“In that case, let’s handle this in secret.”
“What?” the lieutenant colonel asked, thrown for a loop.
It wasn’t just the lieutenant colonel; even Yuri was wide-eyed in surprise at my suggestion.
Hey, even I realized that if this discussion was made public, it would be the end for both of them, quite literally. Keeping this secret meant that I could bring them over to my side and make them work for me while appearing to do them a favor.
If Dr. Sandra’s New World posed a threat to Alice, I wanted to stop her plan completely. To do that, I’d need information.
The first thing to do was to get them to hand over Anton’s former commanding officer and the members of Chernobog, and then I’d leave them here to act as Noa’s eyes and ears in Russia, just like in the movies.
“If we’re going to handle this in private, I’ll need you to hand over Anton’s former commanding officer and the members of Chernobog,” I said. “In exchange, I’ll give you free broadcasting rights, which should be very profitable for your country, and I’ll also see to it that you’re able to contact Noa directly when you’re in need.”
“It’s an incredibly generous offer,” the lieutenant colonel said. “Are you sure about this?”
“It’s fine. I’m already thinking about ways to explain our support for your country to other nations. I think it’ll be several days before I can formalize anything on paper, but I expect you’ll need time to discuss the matter with your superiors, so that works out well, I think.”
“Very well. As a gesture of goodwill, Captain Yulia will be released this very second. I’ll make sure the same arrangements are made for the other members of Chernobog as soon as possible.”
Great. Next, I need to contact Clare and have her pick us up, and then I’ll need to have Mom prepare the necessary documents. Maybe I should talk to Macho Man about Alice and Shingo’s security arrangements while I’m at it? Oh, and I need to talk with Anton’s former commanding officer, Captain Yulia. I’m not sure there’s time for all of this. I could miss tomorrow’s anime. Maybe I should contact Kon and ask her to record it for me.
While I was still thinking over my plans, I decided to use the terminal on my arm to ask Clare to pick us up. I selected Clare Dauntless from the list of registered addresses on my personal terminal and then hit the call button.
I’ll bet she’s sitting just outside Russian airspace seething with rage... I’d better have my excuses ready.
“Hello. This is Clare.”
I heard Clare’s voice before I was even finished coming up with my excuses. She’d picked up quicker than expected. She looked like she was in a terrible mood, but she also appeared to be worried about me.
Okay. All I have to do is act scared and apologize. That should at least stop her from tranquilizing me.
“Clare, sorry for making you worry,” I said quickly. “I promise I’ll never do anything like this again.”
“Honestly... You’re just like the commander. It’s hard to stay angry when you apologize like that. I expect Miki will deal with you when you get back, so I’ll give you a break.”
That’s a relief. Clare’s anger is worse than Mom’s. Clare has this way of calmly breaking your spirit. I can’t handle that.
“But you, Anton!” she burst out. “That’s another story! Do you realize that your job is supposed to be protecting Kouki and the other children from assassination attempts? Why would you let Kouki follow you to somewhere so dangerous? Take your job more seriously! You’re not—”
“Clare, our Russian friends can hear what you’re saying,” I interrupted. “Please save this for later. I’d like you to pick us up. Can you travel to the air force base where I landed in Russia? I don’t think a fully armed Noa aircraft should land at a civilian airport.”
I looked over the lieutenant colonel, and he nodded.
I guess the Russians were worried about that, too, but didn’t want to say anything.
“Very well,” Clare responded. “I’ll enter Russian airspace immediately. I estimate that I’ll arrive in an hour and 20 minutes from now... Hm? Please wait one moment.”
On my terminal screen, I could see that Clare was listening to something from her earpiece.
Then the ordinary lighting inside the aircraft switched to dull red illumination.
What’s going on?
Anton moved closer and looked at my terminal screen with a frown.
“I’m sorry Kouki,” Clare said. “I won’t be able to reach the air force base.”
“Why not?”
“There’s not much time, so I’ll be brief. If anything is unclear, ask Anton about it later. I’m currently flying at an altitude of 13,000 meters, but I’ve been intercepted by an aircraft of unknown origin. It’s not responding to my transmissions or my IFF system. The unknown aircraft has launched air-to-air missiles. I’m taking evasive action, but I expect I’ll be shot down. Kouki, Anton, please find a way to escape Russian territory without my help. I don’t care how you do it, Anton, but protect Kouki and get him back to Noa headquarters at the Hakone base. Clare out.”
What just happened? The transport plane that Clare is flying in just got attacked? But why? Russia already agreed to everything. There’s no way they’d attack us now... That means...
“Anton! This room isn’t—”
Before I could finish my sentence, Anton grabbed me in his strong arms and shoved me securely behind his back. I knew I could always trust Anton to keep me safe, but I wondered whether the small pistol he was carrying would be enough.
Anton pointed the gun at the lieutenant colonel and we heard a click as he disengaged the weapon’s safety. “I’m sure you heard the discussion. The aircraft that was going to pick us up was attacked. I know there’s no reason for you to attack us, but I’m not taking any chances here. Is the Russian government involved?”
“Calm down, Lieutenant,” the lieutenant colonel said quickly. “The government just barely gave us orders to protect Arakawa and ensure he returns to Japan safely. This has nothing to do with us. It’s probably an attack by New World.”