Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 21: Burning Christmas Eve (2)

Dragon Raja 3

Renata crawled out, moving among the boxes like a foraging stray cat. She wasn’t too nervous; this wasn’t her first “operation” out of the ducts, and she was becoming more and more experienced. At first, she would tremble with fear, but gradually she became familiar with the “rules of the game.” This game was easy to play—Zero’s words were the rules. As long as she followed his instructions exactly, she was absolutely safe. She used her small glow-in-the-dark alarm clock at her bedside as a light source and, in the deepest part of the warehouse, found the box Zero had told her about. The wooden box was as tall as Renata herself, and had grown a bit rotten over the years. As she unscrewed the bolts with the wrench, the wooden boards made a startling creaking sound.

The footsteps of the guards outside suddenly stopped, and Renata curled up in fright.

“Damn rats!” one of the guards muttered. Then came the sound of striking flint, and he lit a cigarette and continued patrolling.

Renata went back to work, as diligent as a little mouse. All the screws were taken off, and inside the wooden box was a DShK 1938 heavy machine gun. The 12.7 mm caliber made it look like a small cannon. Its nearly two-meter barrel was covered in cooling fins, indicating how fierce it must be when fired—without cooling, the barrel would soften.

“DShK 1938, maximum range 5.4 kilometers, combat rate of fire 125 rounds per minute. It’s the most powerful weapon we can get. It’s been here for decades, but it was well oiled, so it should be fine. No one here remembers this gun; if you take it, no one will notice. Make sure to take the ammunition box as well.”

Renata pushed the 180-kilogram iron weapon through the empty warehouse. If it weren’t for the fact that the gun’s wheeled mount was well-lubricated, she wouldn’t have been able to move it an inch. She moved along the long cargo corridor and, near the dog kennels, found the small compartment Zero had mentioned. She pushed the DShK 1938 inside, closed the door, and then tiptoed to the small door at the end of the corridor, whispering softly, “Hey, good night.”

The alert sled dogs didn’t bark; instead, they let out low whines. Renata reached her hand out to the front of the kennel, and the dogs gently licked her hand. A few days ago, the sled dogs had become Renata’s friends. As Zero had told her, Renata had poured a colorless, transparent liquid onto the meat she threw to the dogs.

“It’s a hallucinogen that works on dogs. It won’t hurt them, but it will make them think of you as a friendly companion. They’ll be more loyal to you than to their master. We need transportation, and the only means of transportation here are the sled dogs.”

Before the guards returned to the warehouse, Renata crawled back into the ventilation ducts. Yawning, she retraced her path. Tonight’s operation was over, and she could get some sleep.

“Well done, my little princess.” In room Zero, the boy strapped to the iron reclining chair opened his eyes, still dressed in his straitjacket.

“My subjects, will you greet my return with garlands made of bones?”

On Christmas Eve, 1991, the blizzard arrived on schedule. Not a single light could be seen in the sky, as the whirlwinds twisted the snow into a white dragon shooting towards the heavens. Black Swan Bay sealed its main gate, and all the doors and windows were boarded up to prevent the blizzard from disrupting the Christmas party.

The girls were running and playing in the corridor, while the boys outside the building were calling their names. Renata occasionally saw the half-naked girls holding their dresses to cover their chests as they ran by the door, their skin as white as milk, their young bodies beautiful and captivating. The girls had chased the boys who had already changed out of their clothes off that floor, as they needed to change and put on makeup. The doctor had instructed the head nurse to open the clothing boxes in the warehouse and let the girls choose from all the pretty dresses. Some of the clothes were unlike anything Renata had ever seen—black evening gowns, dresses dyed like flowers, translucent skirts edged with white lace, and high heels and stockings meant for adults. The doctor smiled and said that the girls would grow up someday, so they might as well wear high heels now to try them out.

“Khorkina, who are you trying to enchant? Yakov or Sergey?” Zhurova screamed as she chased after Khorkina.

“If I were a boy, I would like you too!”

“Who added thick pads to their bra? Who learned to curl their hair? It’s our Zhurova, dear Zhurova!” Khorkina laughed as she dodged.

They were all wearing just their underwear and stockings, as they weren’t yet used to high heels, and ran awkwardly. The boys downstairs heard their banter and whistled teasingly.

Renata hugged Zorro, her new clothes hanging in front of her bed. She had completed all the tasks that Zero had instructed her to do, and tonight was the night she would leave Black Swan Bay. She only wanted to take these two things with her. Unlike Khorkina and Zhurova, Renata didn’t have the body of a grown girl, so there weren’t many clothes that suited her. Her new outfit was a white shirt with embroidered edges, a camel-colored wool skirt trimmed with fur, a tubular leather hat, and camel-colored boots. It wasn’t as luxurious as Khorkina or Zhurova’s dresses, but it was the most beautiful set of clothes she had ever owned. She decided she would wear these beautiful clothes when she went to see her parents. When their long-lost daughter suddenly appeared so prettily dressed, they would surely be surprised and delighted.

“Zorro, be brave. Tonight we’re going to find mom and dad.” She kissed the bear’s head firmly.

“Girls, hurry up and get dressed and open the door! I still need to give you a lesson before the party starts, so you don’t make a mess!” the head nurse shouted roughly from outside the door.

Several officers and nurses were already gathered at the door. The officers were dressed in wool ceremonial uniforms, while the nurses wore wool skirts, knee-high heeled boots, and light makeup.

When Renata finished dressing and left her room, she glanced towards the end of the hallway. As always, the door to Zero’s room was closed, and no sound could be heard.

“Humans are truly a species easily deceived by material pleasures,” Bondarev said as he sat by the fireplace, loading steel-cored bullets into a magazine. “You simply provided them with extra fuel for warmth, cigarettes and alcohol for the men, stockings and perfume for the women, and new clothes for the children. They’ve completely let down their guard, unaware of the impending danger.”