"Sir, may I see your badge?"
Maxim Fyodorov stopped to gaze at the two young guards in front of Headquarters. A chilly breeze that swept by caused the collars of their beige overcoats to flutter.
"Why do you need to see my badge when you both have known me for many years?" Maxim tightened his brown coat over his sturdy frame.
"It's just protocol," The first guard, the pale man with the green eyes, spoke up.
"We have to follow it," The second one, a young man with a red beard, added.
"You have to?" Agent Fyodorov smirked. " What kind of soldiers are you?"
"Um, we aren't soldiers, sir." The first guard responded. " We are just security detail doing guard duty."
"Good soldiers follow orders." His comrade chimed in.
"Your companion just said you aren't soldiers." Maxim lit a cigarette and inhaled a whiff. "Make up your mind. Yes, it's true that good soldiers follow orders, but great soldiers question everything and can think for themselves."
Baffled, the two guards exchanged glances. Maxim sighed as he took another hit from his cigarette.
"Alright, here is my badge." The agent revealed his badge to the two confused guards." Now will I be able to enter the establishment?I have an important meeting with the director. "
"Sir, we should let you know that smoking is not allowed on the premise at anytime. "
Maxim sighed as he dropped his cigarette to the ground and crushed it with his foot.
"Hey! Littering is not-" The second guard began, but Maxim waved him off and entered the building.
I don't ever need to be patronized by low-level security detail.
----
"Colonel Zaitsev will see you now."
Alyona smiled at the young agent as he stood up. He walked past her and entered the Colonel's office. The round-bellied KGB officer glanced up at Max through his small reading glasses and motioned for him to take a seat.
"We meet again, Maxim Fydorov. How did you enjoy your break?"
"Quite swell, thanks for asking. Now I believe you have some answers that you promised me." Max crossed his arms.
"Ah yes." Yuri Zaitsev smiled at the agent. "Ask away, Fyodorov."
The KGB agent took a breath. "First, I hear that we have our bases in Afghanistan sacked and burned to the ground. Now, one within our own borders meets a similar fate with no survivors. I assumed it was the Western-backed insurgents when this first happened, but when it happened within Soviet lands, I knew it can't be as simple as that. So please tell me, who is really behind all this? Do you even know the answer yourself?"
The middle-aged man laughed before he took a sip of his coffee. " You are quite a perceptive one. You are correct on the aspect that Western-backed insurgents have nothing to do with this attack. We do have a vague idea of the party responsible, but we need your help in confirming it. Hence, you and Danilenko will be sent to Dagestan to investigate. However, be warned that Dragunov will send his GRU dogs in as well due to him having some of his men stationed in Caspian base before the attack took place. "
"Well, who do you think is behind the attack?" Max tapped his fingers on the sleek wooden chair.
"Remember what I told you about General Leonidovich's secret experiment?"
Max frowned and leaned forward. " You mean that fairy tale Der Grossman? You expect me to believe a boogeyman went amok and trashed a Soviet military base? What a load of crap."
"Actually, we had placed one of our agents inside the GRU and he has secured footage from the site before the other GRU brats could get their hands on it. He confirmed our suspicions. This brings us to our next matter. I have a mission for you and Danilenko. "
"Let me guess? You want us to fly down to that godforsaken Dagestan region and pick up the tape?" Maxim smirked
"Oh?" Yuri blinked his eyes twice. "How did you guess?"
Maxim winked."After spending so much time in your service, some things become routinely similar."
"I see," Zaitsev muttered. "I never took you for a fool when I had decided to recruit you from the military academy. I knew you had so much potential that you would be wasted as a normal foot soldier. My gut feeling told me that you were destined for greater things. Stalin send me to the gulags if I am wrong."
Maxim fought the urge to laugh as he gazed around the lavish commanding office. "Please spare me the cheeky talk. It really is cringeworthy , especially coming from you. I never imagined you as the sentimental type to give long-winded lecture about military recruits."
"Just because I am a seasoned KGB colonel doesn't mean that I can't give words of wisdom," Zaitsev protested.
"Oh, but I was not finished." Maxim leaned back once again. "Stalin has been dead for more than a few decades. Our premier is Brezhnev. We aren't living in my grandfather's era anymore."
"Excuse me, are you calling me old?" Zaitsev joked.
"That is precisely what I am doing." Maxim chuckled as he rested his head on his fist. "I'm only jesting with you. Although, I have one question for you?"
The colonel smiled and leaned back in his expensive chair. "Ask away."
"Did you serve during the Great Patriotic War?"
"As a matter of fact, I served in the Red Army in Kiev as well as Minsk among many places. I never had the honor to liberate Stalingrad or Leningrad. What I would have given to gain a piece of that glory."
"Well, what is important is that you did something productive during the war." Maxim shrugged. "Anyway, when do I meet up with Danilenko in order to brief him about our mission?"
"He will be here soon. "Zaitsev took a sip of his coffee. "I already summoned him."
The door opened a crack as Alyona stuck her head inside the room. "Pardon me, but do you gentlemen require anything?"
Maxim rose from his seat."Yes, there is something I need to know."
"Hm?" The woman fixed her stare on him.
"Why do you always forget my coffee?"
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Finally, Max gets to be a part of the action again although like us, he needs his morning coffee to function.
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