Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 19: Oath (4)

Dragon Raja 3

“Christmas.”

“Ha! Perfect!” Zero clapped his hands joyfully. “When your birthday comes, I’ll give you a present.”

“I’ve never gotten a birthday present before,” Renata said, feeling a flutter of excitement. “Even something small would be good.”

“I don’t have anything small,” Zero said softly. “I’ll give you a wish.”

“A wish?” Renata was confused.

“I’ll give you freedom. You can leave this place and see your parents.” Zero pressed his hand into Renata’s palm, as if swearing an oath.

“Really?” Renata couldn’t believe her ears.

“Renata Evgenievna Chicherina, would you run away with me? On this journey, we won’t abandon each other, we won’t betray each other, until the end of death.” Zero gazed into her eyes.

Renata looked at the magical boy for a long time. His eyes seemed to hold a faint golden ripple, his gaze profound and far-reaching, stretching across millennia.

“I will,” she whispered.

“A total of 128 iron cabinets filled with data and gene samples have been transferred to the Lenin by the Halo. Two hundred million dollars have also been deposited into your account at Deutsche Bank. Now, we only have the last, most important batch of supplies to move, and then there’s the matter of how to destroy Black Swan Bay. We cannot leave any information for anyone who might find these ruins,” Bondarev said.

The doctor spread a large blueprint across the desk. “When Black Swan Bay was first built, it had a complete destruction plan. According to this plan, we’ll cause the thick frozen soil layer, which is several dozen meters thick, to collapse entirely, burying everything beneath it. This plan is called ‘The Swan’s Death.’”

Bondarev quickly scanned the blueprint. “Brilliant! Every support structure has been meticulously designed. Once detonated, it will collapse completely, making it impossible to restore!”

“But it will be difficult for us to leave without anyone noticing. There’s an air force base in Verkhoyansk with a squadron of Su-27 heavy fighter jets stationed there. Their orders are to destroy Black Swan Bay if necessary, leaving no survivors. I myself am under surveillance here, and without your appearance, I wouldn’t be able to escape either.”

“Those jets are a real problem. A squadron of Su-27s is a major threat even to an aircraft carrier fleet—Lenin won’t be able to handle them,” Bondarev frowned.

“That’s not the only problem. The Swan’s Death plan involves detonating 48 vacuum bombs buried beneath Black Swan Bay. These are bombs with power close to that of small nuclear weapons. In the first explosion, the high-explosive powder is sprayed into the air, perfectly mixed with the air, and then detonated again. The shockwave of the powder explosion can even break the rotors of the Halo.”

“That’s not a problem, is it? We can evacuate first and then detonate the vacuum bombs,” Bondarev said.

“The problem is that once our evacuation is spotted by that air squadron, they could also detonate those vacuum bombs. Moreover, they’ll hunt us down over the sea,” the doctor said. “We must make the destruction of Black Swan Bay look like an accident—a fire. When they see that a fire has broken out, the air squadron from Verkhoyansk will take off. Once they see that the situation is beyond control, they’ll detonate the vacuum bombs from the air. Meanwhile, we’ll quietly retreat under cover of bad weather using dog sleds. To the world, Black Swan Bay will have disappeared completely, with no survivors.”

“That’s an excellent plan. When will the final batch of supplies be moved? You must be escorting the final batch personally, and those children too. Though we’ve established trust, I don’t think you’d place all authority in my hands,” Bondarev smiled.

“I will personally escort the last batch of supplies, and you will come with me,” the doctor said.

“By dog sled?”

“Yes, we must be the last to leave. If the others at the port discover our disappearance, we won’t be able to achieve a ‘no survivors’ destruction,” the doctor said coldly.

“So you mean, apart from you, me, and the children, no one else survives?” Bondarev’s expression grew serious.

“Have you developed compassion, Comrade Bondarev?” The doctor turned around, his always elegant and gentle eyes now cold and devoid of warmth. “You must understand, the person who knows our secret is hiding here in Black Swan Bay. Can we let him leave here alive? The research is nearing its conclusion, and the researchers no longer have value to us. I can complete the final step alone—embedding dragon genes into human genes to create hybrids. We’re about to wield great power, power akin to that of a king, and a king does not share his authority with others.”

Bondarev wrinkled his nose as if he could already smell the scent of blood.

“Understood! We need to have the courage to make sacrifices!” Bondarev raised his glass. “To our cause!”

“To our cause!”

“One more question: Can the dog sleds carry all the children?” Bondarev asked.

“We’re only taking the most valuable children. Most of them no longer have any value,” the doctor said calmly. “We can’t exactly start another orphanage in a new place, and children carrying the perfect gene aren’t that hard to find. We’ve already thoroughly studied these kids.”

Bondarev took a deep breath of cold air. “You are decisive, like a king. Or rather, a tyrant.”

“If cruelty could lead to success, everyone would become cruel,” the doctor said coldly. “Cowardly compassion is just weakness. If I weren’t this type of person, I wouldn’t dare work with your family.”

“What about Zero? Will you take him?”

“No. He’s been injected with too many hallucinogens. His mind is on the verge of collapse. He’s a sample that’s already been used up.”

“Where is Renata?”

The doctor finished his glass of vodka. “Renata is a very well-behaved child; she is a living little flower. Her smile brings warmth to my heart. But,” he patted Bondarev’s shoulder, “soon we’ll be leaving this cursed place for the Baltic, won’t we? A place that’s warm and humid, full of vibrant flowers. Why would I take a flower to a garden already blooming with them?”

“A living flower is precious precisely because it blooms in the cold Arctic. Among a field of flowers, she is worth nothing.” Bondarev sighed.

“So let her stay in the Arctic,” the doctor said calmly.

“When will we make the final withdrawal?”

“Christmas. According to the weather forecast, it will be the gloomiest day.”

Zero traced numbers in Renata’s palm with his finger: “723499611211. Remember this sequence; it will open the mechanical code lock on your door. To leave here, you’ll need to do a lot of preparation. Don’t be afraid. Just do as I say, and as long as you don’t make any mistakes, there won’t be any danger. Our oath has taken effect, and now we’re fugitives running away together.”

Renata nodded firmly.

Zero patted her head. “Good girl. I knew choosing you was right.”

He clapped his hands, and the black snake spiraled up along the church wall. Its golden eyes, as bright as giant candles, looked down on Renata and Zero. The iron scales on its body continued playing the Christmas song, and in its melody, every snowflake seemed to transform into golden reindeer and Christmas trees, gracefully drifting down. It was the most beautiful moment of the night, and also its closing act.

Renata lifted the hem of her nightgown and curtsied to the black snake. “Thank you.” It was a gesture she had learned from a book—a ballerina’s way of giving thanks.

“Take us down,” Zero said, as if speaking to a servant.

“Oh, I remember hearing someone reciting poetry here before. Was it you?” Renata recalled.

“The thousand years were over, and Satan would be released from his prison to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they were like the sand of the sea.” Zero recited casually, “That’s not poetry; it’s a passage from the Bible. It says that the devil will eventually come out of his prison, and that day will be the carnival of all the demons in the world. Are you afraid of the devil?”

Renata shook her head. She truly wasn’t afraid, mainly because she didn’t know what the devil even was.

“Good girl. The devil should take you as his queen,” Zero smiled as he held Renata’s hand and led her onto the snake’s head.

The black snake carried them smoothly down to the snowy ground, obediently lowering its head and lifting the scales on its neck to form steps.

“Goodnight,” Zero said.

“Goodnight,” Renata replied.

“When we say goodnight, it means you should sleep well.” Zero mischievously hooked his thumb on the straps of his straitjacket. “We’ll be leaving here soon, trust me.”

“Yes!” Renata nodded eagerly. “We promised each other!”

She ran through the snow toward the building where the children lived. Zero silently watched her back, his eyes flickering with a dazzling golden hue like a kaleidoscope, as if golden flowers were blooming. Gradually, the tender look, like that of a cute little seal, was replaced by a cold and fierce one.

“I won’t abandon or betray you, Renata. But our pact can’t last until the end of our lives; it will only hold until you’re no longer useful to me,” Zero whispered. “A weak girl like you can’t survive in this world alone, and I can’t always carry you with me.”