Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 3: The Imperial Commissioner (2)

Dragon Raja 3

“To our country, Dr. Herzog,” Bondarev clinked glasses with him, and the two downed their drinks in one go.

Bondarev toyed with his glass, studying the elderly man with interest. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact age of this “Dr. Herzog,” who had the qualities of both an eighty-year-old man and a twenty-year-old youth. His woolen military uniform fit his upright figure perfectly, the crease in his trousers sharp, and a purple silk scarf was tucked neatly at his collar. His silver hair was slicked back, giving him the dashing appearance of someone in his twenties. But he was indeed old, the deep lines in his eyes betraying the passage of time. Gazing at his still-handsome face, it felt like watching a fresco slowly peel away.

The doctor refilled the glasses. “Every year, the Lenin comes here, bringing us a year’s worth of supplies—food, equipment, fuel… and, of course, stockings for the ladies and vodka for the men. It’s as cold as the edge of the world here. Without outside supplies, people would die. But this year, it’s not the Lenin that has come, but a KGB major. Do you have the entire year’s worth of supplies for Black Swan Bay in your uniform pocket?”

“Unfortunately, there are no supplies, and there won’t be anymore,” Bondarev looked directly into the doctor’s eyes. “Our great motherland is facing disaster. The situation in Moscow is chaotic.”

The doctor was taken aback. “Chaotic?”

“To be precise, the Soviet Union will cease to exist. There was once a great revolutionary friendship between our member republics, but now that friendship has crumbled to dust. People are questioning whether we can still reach communism on the current path. In each republic, there are calls for independence. Meanwhile, the country’s economic situation continues to deteriorate, the military is under-supplied, and the factories are underproducing. The morale of the people is unstable, and the country no longer has the resources to supply this port on the edge of the Arctic Ocean.”

“Will the country collapse?”

“It probably won’t last through the year.”

The doctor sighed softly, “Though I had a sense that the political situation would change, I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly. To be honest, we have no contact with the outside world—no telephone lines, no radio. Our only way of understanding the outside is by reading newspapers. Every year, the Lenin brings us a whole year’s worth of newspapers, so my information is at least a year behind. A year ago, I still believed that communism was indestructible and that all difficulties would pass. And now, a year later, I suddenly hear that the country will cease to exist. Even Shakespeare couldn’t have written a tragedy like this… What will the country do with us?”

“The country’s assets will be divided among the republics, including fighter jets, aircraft carriers, and even nuclear weapons. This port is no exception. I was sent here to inventory and appraise the assets. It may be allocated to one of the republics. But first, I need to figure out what this port is used for. It’s quite mysterious—each year, it costs the state an enormous sum of money, yet no department knows its purpose.”

The doctor was silent for a moment and then smiled, “The KGB found a port on the map but doesn’t know what it’s used for. Your superiors must be quite frustrated.”

“Yes, even the highest secret organization, the KGB, doesn’t have the authority to know the truth about this port.”

“You must have tried investigating this port, right? Did you find anything?” The doctor narrowed his eyes slightly.

“There was very little information to be found. What we could confirm is that this port is not actually called Black Swan Bay—that’s just what you all call it. It has no official name, only the code ‘δ.’ Every institution in the country has records, and the KGB has backups of all of them. But yours were missing. That means someone removed your files from the archives, leaving only the code ‘δ.’ That’s not something an ordinary person could do. You must have powerful connections.”

“Science is inherently more mysterious than politics,” the doctor said indifferently.

“Some influential figures have embezzled billions of rubles of state funds under various pretexts to support you scientists. You must have extraordinary value. Otherwise, why wouldn’t those influential figures use that money to keep mistresses?” Bondarev smiled. “Since you have value, that simplifies things. Valuable people are respected in any era.”

The doctor studied Bondarev through the glass of his liquor for a long time, then suddenly burst into laughter.

“Are you mocking me?” Bondarev wasn’t offended.

“People who work in secret tend to exaggerate things,” the doctor said, finishing his drink. “Comrade Bondarev, you’ve guessed completely wrong. Black Swan Bay is not engaged in any shady research projects. Our work is to establish the largest gene bank in the Soviet Union.” The doctor nodded, “We collect the genes of various ethnic groups within the Soviet Union to build a massive database. Once this database is complete, even if a nuclear war breaks out and humanity faces extinction, we can revive humanity through cloning technology. The δ Project chose this base location not because we have some unspeakable secret, but because Siberia is a natural ice cellar. Even without electricity, we can preserve the genetic samples here for hundreds of thousands of years.”

“That’s all there is to it?” Bondarev frowned.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but that’s really all there is to it. I’ve worked on this project for decades and have developed a deep attachment to it. But if the state wants to terminate the project, I’ll immediately arrange for my assistants to help you inventory the assets. I’ll finally be able to lay down my burdens and leave this place.” The doctor sighed, “I’d like to find a place by the southern seaside to spend my twilight years.”

The door opened, and the kindly head nurse walked in. “Doctor, the blizzard has passed. We’ll have a few hours of clear weather, so I’ve asked the nurses to take the children outside for some fresh air. After this, there’ll be several more days of storms.”

“Children?” Bondarev asked in surprise.

“We have an orphanage here, where we’ve taken in some children with genetic defects. They’re all our research subjects, but they’ve been abandoned by their parents and have nowhere else to go. Comrade Major, why don’t you meet the children? We don’t get many visitors here, and the children would love to hear about the outside world from you.” The doctor stood up and opened the office door.

The lawn was full of children playing and chasing each other, ranging from three or four years old to about eleven or twelve. They wore neatly tailored white cotton one-piece outfits, with mittens embroidered with their respective identification numbers. Their eyes sparkled, their faces were rosy, and they ran with astonishing speed. Clearly, they were well taken care of—nothing like the ragged children one would expect in a typical orphanage. Medical staff chased after them, calling their names, taking their temperatures, and measuring their blood pressure. After each checkup, the children were rewarded with cotton candy.

“I didn’t expect to see grass in a place this cold,” Bondarev said. “I thought there’d be nothing but moss and lichen here.”

The doctor smiled proudly, “That’s thanks to the design of the buildings. When I designed Black Swan Bay, I placed the buildings close together and connected them with underground passageways. The outer walls of each building are a meter thick with cement, and there are triple-pane windows with small openings to retain heat. This lawn is enclosed by the building complex, so the cold wind doesn’t penetrate as easily. We planted a cold-resistant variety of grass, so for most of the year, you can see greenery.”

Series Navigation

<< Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 2: The Imperial Commissioner (1)Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 4: The Imperial Commissioner (3) >>