“Not yet. I was just coming to check on how you were doing. Got everything squared away?” Maro asked without a hint of humor, making Sergio worry.
“I just need to get this uniform washed so I can give it back to Marco. They had me wear it on the way to Polis.” Sergio rubbed his fingers over the faded material of the uniform appreciatively.
“They?” Maro fell into step beside Sergio and cued him to continue as they walked.
“Marco is part of a clan, well, she’s actually the leader. Or… is she officially the station master there, too? But then Nikolai—”
“Sergioka, you’re doing that thing again.” Maro chuckled and bumped Sergio’s shoulder with his own. “Thinking and talking.”
“Sorry.” Sergio took a breath and began again, more calm now that Maro was being cordial again. “At Avtozavodskaya, Marco runs a group of people; they call themselves Roten Spaten, it’s German for Red Arrow. Named after the—”
“The train to St. Petersburg, yeah… Interesting.” Maro nodded his head thoughtfully.
“Yeah…?” Sergio wondered if Maro had ever been on said train; judging by the man’s pensive look, it was quite likely that he had. “Well, anyway, one of her people, Nikolai – she named him as her replacement, so I guess he runs the group now, or at least until she gets back.”
“Oh? I thought she was staying for good.” Maro frowned.
“Why? Did Vera say something about it?” Sergio asked with the same expectant tone in his voice, hoping Maro had some knowledge about what he’d missed since he left her with Vera.
“No, but why else would the Colonel have let her down here? Why would Sacco have given her the cartridge?” Maro brainstormed aloud.
“What is it about these cartridges, anyway?” Sergio tensed angrily, completely forgetting about the issue at hand. “Is that what you’re supposed to give to someone if you think you’re going to die? Do you have one, too?”
“No. And no.” Maro wasn’t being very helpful. Sergio couldn’t read anything from his tone of voice, either.
“What then? Sacco gave one to me back when, well, you know. But he gave one to Marco too, and it seemed like she knew exactly what it was about.” Sergio still wondered what had been inside the capsule he was given. Marco had told him that her cartridge had a paper with her and Sacco’s signatures, but Sergio had never signed anything. Nothing was ever said about him becoming some sort of replacement for Sacco if he didn’t return, yet here he was doing exactly that.
He still had no idea exactly why Sacco had chosen him to go to Polis with his message. It could have been just simple convenience; that Sacco was friends with his step-father, or that Sergio happened to be on patrol that night when he arrived, or because he had confessed his childhood secret when nobody else at The underground radio station would speak with the ominous visitor. Maybe Sacco had seen something in him that he was still not aware of himself. Or, as he’d said, Sergio was the only one left at The underground radio station with any sense, worm-eaten brains, or something to that effect. He couldn’t remember it now.
“You should ask the Colonel about it, he can explain to you better than I can.” Maro patted him on the shoulder with a kind but apologetic expression.
They had reached the bottom floor where the laundry was done. Sergio went inside quickly and handed in his Roten Spaten uniform, wondering how much longer it would be until he was summoned to the office. There were just too many questions that needed answering, and it seemed that every time he began to wonder about one, other possibilities would obstruct his thoughts until they had all piled up hopelessly onto one another and it was impossible to keep on track. Was it time, yet?
As he exited the room, he realized that Maro was speaking to a friend and decided to wait. Hopefully there would be further company and distraction.
“So, what, were they… together?” The unknown Hunter with his back to Sergio said under his breath.
“I don’t know. I think— I have to go.” Maro replied in the same timbre, looking slightly alarmed by Sergio reappearing so suddenly. He quickly rejoined his company but Sergio wasn’t ready to walk back just yet.
“Is everyone talking about it?” Sergio said with annoyance.
“You thought you could keep her all to yourself or something?” Maro began with scowl, but then softened up and changed his tone. “Look, this is a big deal. It’s not like Sacco opened up to many people in the first place… anyway, people want to know why.”
“Why what?” Sergio threw his hands up, trying not to yell. “It’s none of their business.”
“It will be if she stays.” Maro replied almost in a whisper, taking Sergio firmly by the bicep and urging him to move on, possibly so that they could continue the conversation in private.
Sergio found himself again thinking that if Marco were a man, nobody would think twice about the situation or what might happen because of it. There definitely didn’t seem to be such a big deal when he’d become a Hunter and, if he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t very good at it. Marco, however, had been personally trained by Sacco; her skills in stealth and weaponry honed by his experience, her mind tempered by his eternally ominous outlook. If it turned out to be true that Marco was to become a Brotherhoodn, she deserved the job well more than he did.
As they were reaching the top level there seemed to be more activity going on near the main command hall than there had been earlier. Most of the men running back and forth weren’t in full battle dress, so either they were late to an evacuation drill, or the soldiers were in the midst of rearranging supplies. It wasn’t uncommon for an area to be established for one thing and then be switched to a different area as more of the massive bunker was being explored and cleared. They had found an entire level of a warehouse filled with several recent models of artillery equipment, but it was too big to use in the tunnels for defense. Another sector had turned up several crates with weapons dating back to 1942 – sturdy bolt-action rifles, sub machine guns, marksman carbines, and three different types of Tokarev arms. Nobody had yet gone through to see if any of those were in working order, but whether D6 proved to be an armory or a museum, it was still an incredible find.
Sergio hadn’t even noticed that there hadn’t been any chatter on their way back upstairs until Maro began saying he would go and see if the Colonel was ready for him yet. Once again he felt his stomach turn, wondering if he would see Marco coming out from the hallway or if she was even still in there. He began also to hope that she was staying permanently, for more than a few reasons. Maybe she would teach him some of the things that Sacco had taught her, and then he might feel more useful or even worthy of his endorsement.
Maro returned quickly and Sergio jumped to an uncomfortable position of attention, half expecting to see Vera or Marco walking behind him. He slackened after Maro reached him and no one else followed.
“You can go in now.” Maro said flatly, giving him one last pat on the back and sending him off.
Again, the lack of humor in Makarov’s voice made him nervous.
“Reporting as ordered, sir.” Sergio said quietly, stepping tentatively into the small well-lit room and waiting for the Colonel to look up at him. Was he expecting him to be angry?
“Come in, Sergio. Have a seat and then you can tell me your side of the story.” Vera gestured to a padded chair across from himself, then moved his paperwork to the side and folded his arms together on the desk.
Sergio did as he was told, although somewhat hesitantly. He wanted to ask how long it had been since Marco had left before he had come, but the Colonel’s intent stare forced him to file through his memories and start his report at the beginning. Back three days ago, maybe four now, to the outpost at the Church.