He nodded. “Yes. Indeed we were hoping to defect to whoever was taking you in. None of us wish to continue to serve a government so corrupt someone in it would send troops to kill its own civilians that have been abused by an armed political faction.”
Lev looked him straight in the eye as he said. “Be that as it may. They may agree to this. But while you travel with me your men will be separated into pairs, with six of my own guarding each pair. So long as none of you try to cause us trouble, you will camp together at night, with guards surrounding you. Nor will you get your weapons returned until after the border. I will not risk more than ten thousand lives for little discomfort from sixteen. You will also hand over all radios. Do you understand?”
Evgeni only nodded. It was about what he expected. “Of course, sir. If you could let me explain it to my men?
Lev nodded, and the aide with the pistol jumped off the truck with him. They were soon joined by two more armed men from the convoy.
His team still had fifty armed men marching behind them. At least they hadn’t done anything stupid. They were being treated far better than could have been expected, as effective prisoners of war. Maybe defecting hadn’t been as stupid as he had sometimes thought. Maybe whomever these refugees were going to would be worth serving.
Mikhail was glad he had been chosen to lead this pack. His kid cousin was one of those shot in cold blood. She had just been walking down the street to pick something up. Instead, she had gotten a bullet to the brain. After over a hundred years in Russia, he simply could not face another period of troubled time. Besides he could do more good working for this Czarina, he was sure, than he could by staying. Even though what Boris was doing was necessary for the Czarina, Mikhail’s heart would not have been in it.
He could truly devote himself to a leader like her. The word was that she had a tendency, a preference even, to lead from the front. That was another thing that Mikhail could respect.
So he made his choice and was one of the most senior among the Weres that were protecting the refugees. Hell, he had known most of the townspeople all his life. When Lev had asked him to be one of those who were to talk to a possible defector it had be more because he had a talent, though. It was not as reliable as some other methods, but it was far more subtle. He could usually smell when a person was lying. That officer had been nervous, even a little afraid, but he didn’t give off the sour odor of deception. As long as the column encountered actual Spetsnaz out here, the information was valid.
The Spetsnaz drop points had seemed odd if the objective was only a simple delay. They were, however, perfect for a delay and cause casualties mission. That was what had sent Evgeni against those orders. He was one of the good officers, at least if his information was accurate. Seven packs of thirty had been sent out, and Mikhail’s had just hit a jackpot.
He smelt the bastards moving no more than half a kilometer away. They generally smelled similar to the base odor of the officer to whom he had talked. Looked like it was time to make these attackers disappear.
With quiet whines and yips, he communicated that the rest of the pack, other than his second, was to pair off and take a target. He and his second would take the lead and the back of the group, respectively. The attack was to start with either the first sign of aggression towards them or his snarl as he went for the lead.
They crept up through the dripping foliage placing careful paws on the ground and staying low to the ground. Humans were not the only ones that could do a belly crawl, Mikhail thought, his tongue lolling out of his mouth briefly in humor at the thought. It was so much easier creeping up on someone as a wolf.
He found a position at seventy-five meters ahead of the enemy team. Settling into position and tensing his legs for the leap, he could feel his blood pounding as the excitement of the kill started to take hold. His target was not close enough yet. The Spetsnaz were moving cautiously and slowly in the misty rain. They knew that the refugees must be close. In truth, the column was only an hour or so behind where his pack now lay in ambush. If it were not for the rain, these men might be already setting up to sniper nests to kill his friends and neighbors.
The Spetsnaz’ luck had just run into the error known as Things you cannot plan for.
There was no way they could expect a pack of wolves (or werewolves) to deliberately ambush a group of sixteen humans. Mikhail had a very black and white view of things after a century. If they hadn’t defected to the refugees, they were the enemy. He’d seen too many soldiers who didn’t take their responsibility to protect civilians seriously enough. The fact that they were willing to delay or kill refugees was sufficient for him.
With a snarl that shredded the dreary mist, Mikhail jumped for the lead man’s neck as he passed. The man turned impressively quickly, managing to get a burst of shooting off, but was too late to stop Mikhail’s jaws closing on his jugular. At the same moment that hot blood sprayed into his mouth, Mikhail felt the burn of two bullets creasing his leg. It didn’t matter as his mass toppled the dying man over to the ground. The wolf tore again at the man’s throat, and the soldier died in a gurgling sigh.
Mikhail heard more snarls rip through the rainy night as the rest of the pack launched their attacks. Among the noises mingled shouts of confusion could be heard along with an occasional burst of rifle fire. A few screams of agony, finally followed by silence.
Their part of this mission complete, the pack split and circled wide, scouting further ahead. If there were more Border Force troops out there, they needed to be found and neutralized, if possible. It was entirely plausible that their informant hadn’t known, or hadn’t told them everything. Best to make sure that there was not another little SNAFU ahead.
Evgeni and his men had a sleepless night, four times waking to bursts of gunfire. They had all known that there were men in those groups who might have also defected given the chance. They also knew that it was the cruel calculus of war. Had they misjudged one man outside of their team and approached them, the team would, at best, have been broken up. At worst they would have been scattered to different prisons. The refugee column could have taken heavy losses. Civilian losses, good Russian lives. Lives that they were sworn to protect by their solemn oath.
The bottom line balanced sixty-two lives against the thousands in the column. Trading so small a number against the potential death of many old people, women and children was a bargain. Even if some of them dead were friends.
It was therefore of great surprise to them when a baker’s dozen of their comrades were dragged into their encampment by some of the column’s militia. Supplies to patch them up were provided. Some of their wounds were terrible. All of them were dog or wolf bites.
Evgeni thought it very strange, as he could remember seeing few if any dogs with the column. At least not dogs that could cause such wounds. Perhaps they were all out with the scouts. Yes, that made sense. The scouts were probably skilled hunters and hunters often had their own dogs.
He comforted himself with that as thoughts of humanity’s darker legends whispered to him in the back of his mind.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Command Container, Siberia, Russia
The attack on the column had complicated matters. Boris had decided to travel to confer with Lev, leaving Danislav, Janna, and Paul to co-ordinate operations. They had managed to identify several NVG bases of operations and had conducted spoiling raids to keep them on their toes. The captured heavy weapons were used here, to increase the evidence that it was Chechen irregulars that were responsible. It had left Janna with a problem, though since this interrupted her training with Boris. To adjust to the change, her training switched to a different form of battle, as the wolves that Danislav convinced to help him with her training attacked in numbers.