"<Ten miles off, Alanna,>" the radio said. "<Are you ready?>"
"<Yes, yes, and for the hundreth time, yes,>" Alanna replied into the radio. "<Stop asking. I know my part.>"
"<Remember, they may be-->"
"<I said I know my part,>" she said forcefully. "<This is not radio silence.>"
She was irritated; the whole plan had been her idea. She'd called it, she'd been involved in every step of the planning, and certainly was well aware of what she was to be doing.
"<She's right,>" another voice cut in, "<Cut the chatter now. Anyone can hear.>"
The radio went silent after that, letting Alanna focus on the road. She was nearly three metres off the ground, driving a huge truck with a crane overhead. All it had was cruise control; it was otherwise totally manual drive, so she had to actually pay full attention to the road or she could swerve off. She knew how to drive manual, like she'd done with the tractor, but she sure wasn't accustomed to it.
In just two minutes, she'd met their target along the road; a caravan of three transport trucks, all of them with doors on the back. She a little bit nervous, but with a gulp, she slammed her foot on the 'gas' pedal, speeding up. It was time.
"<We're closing! Are you ready up there?>" she asked into the radio.
"<Oh yeah,>" the crane operator answered, his young voice full of confidence. "<Ready when you are!>"
"Roger that," she said in English, making no effort to mask her accent.
The truck rushed forward, approaching the truck at the end of the caravan ahead rapidly. The front end of her truck crashed into it, jolting the other truck forward.
"<Clear it!>" Alanna shouted.
"Roger," the boy operating the truck's crane said, mimicking her. The long arm sprung to life, lifting and moving to the right, then extending. "<Get us closer,>" he said into the radio.
She accelerated again, and closed the gap between her and the truck, the other one trying to drive away, futily; all of a sudden, the crane swung to the left, bowling the transport right off the road.
"Wham!" the boy shouted enthusiastically. "<That was awesome!>"
"<Back guard is clear,>" Alanna announced into the radio, for the benefit of the cars behind her. "<Be prepared, we are now taking the transport itself.>"
"<We're ready,>" the voice that had been bothering her earlier responded.
The boy realigned the crane, moving right into the center of the truck again, and they sped forward, aiming at the next transport. They knew, the second one was the one actually carrying prisoners; the front and back were the guards, full of soldiers.
"<Just a bit closer,>" the boy told her, and her truck lurched forward, making the distance to the second truck. This was going to be trickier; Sachiko and the other prisoners were inside that one, so she couldn't exactly just bowl it off the road.
"<Keep it steady,>" he said, lining up the hook carefully. The truck in front started to swerve, and Alanna had to react quickly, swerving to stay lined up with it. "<Closer....!>" he shouted, and she put her foot on the pedal just a bit further; making sure that she didn't end up ramming it in the process.
"<Got it!>" the boy finally announced, the hook catching the back end of the truck. "<It's secure now,>" he told her.
"<You got it,>" Alanna said, putting on the brakes. The truck in front wasn't quite so easily stopped, trying to escape by driving forward. Thanks to that, her own truck was slowly starting to deccelerate, but not quickly enough.
"<Hey, can you lift them just a bit? They're dragging us forward,>" Alanna said.
"<Everything alright?>" the radio asked.
"<It will be,>" Alanna replied curtly.
"<Sure,>" the boy said, and the crane lifted up, pulling the back of the truck up in the air, angling it so that the back thrusters were pointed upwards; the front of it started to scrape against the road, sparks flying. Alanna slammed her foot on the brakes, her truck now able to come to a quick stop. "<Now drop it,>" she announced, and he did; so the only prisoner exit wasn't still stuck in the air.
"<Prisoner transport is down,>" Alanna announced to the radio, "<I repeat, we've got the prisoner transport down.>"
"<Let's go!>" the radio responded.
Ahead of her, the truck in front had turned around and was approaching them quickly. Alanna knew that they had to move out quickly; this was the part that made her the most nervous. She grabbed the zat gun leaning against the side of the cabin, and opened the door, scurrying down the ladder and climbing down the side of the truck quickly. Suddenly, outside of the truck, she felt incredibly naked-- unprotected.
Behind her, she heard the screech of several cars landing without slowing down enough-- it was bad for the undercarriage, but they were in a hurry. Ahead of her, soldiers were piling out of the first truck, and the guards in the prisoner transport were climbing out of that cab, too. Alanna turned the safety off on her gun, rushing to hide behind the side of her truck; she would wait for the rest of her convoy behind her to lead the attack.
She didn't have to wait long for gunshots to start firing. Loud zat noises and their accompanying bright lights filled the air. She peeked around the corner, seeing that several of the soldiers ahead had fallen; including the guards that had ran out of transport caught on the hook. She was terrified of the idea of running out into the open, but with a gulp, she realized that now was the safest chance she had; she ran around the corner, darting towards the back of the transport.
Zat blasts shot all around her, including one shot that went dangerously close to her shoulder, but she focused just on running as fast as she could, not affording to take the time to look anywhere but ahead. She made it to the transport, out of sight of the soldiers advancing on them ahead, and started to open the door.
She tried pulling the door open; unsurprisingly, it was locked. The original plan called for stealing the keys from the guards, but she had little interest in running even further into the line of fire. She thought quickly-- what to do? Then, a bad, incredibly stupid idea came to mind. She looked down at her gun, then at the lock.
Hey, she thought, it always works in movies. She was about to shoot at the lock when she realized that it would be bad if she melted the lock and there was no way of getting in. Then a better, safer idea came to mind, and she shot at one of the exposed hinges, instead. She was temporarily blinded by the bright light coming from her gun's muzzle, not expecting it to be quite that bright. When her vision cleared, she saw that the hinge really had been melted straight off.
Wow, it really did work, she thought, surprised. Shrugging, she shot at the other hinge, blasting it off just as easily. She pulled on the handle, realizing just a moment too late that the door was incredibly heavy, and going to fall forward. She scrambled back as the door started to fall; then realizing that she was right in the middle of the line of fire, scrambled back to behind the crane truck. The door crashed to the ground with a loud noise.
Alanna glanced around the corner; surprisingly, she didn't see any soldiers any more. Not having the time to question it, she ran forward again, hopping into a truck full of surprised prisoners.
"<Out you all get! You're free! Come on!>" she announced, looking around.
"Alanna?" a girl in the corner asked. "Is that you?" It was faint, but Alanna recognized her voice immediately.
"Yes," she said, rushing over to her. Behind her, people started to slowly climb out, looking around outside in confusion. Alanna put down her gun, leaning down to face Sachiko. "It's me."
"God, I'm so glad to see you...," Sachiko said softly, her eyes watering. "I don't deserve this at all."
"No," Alanna said, standing up again and pointing her gun downwards. "You don't. Now come on, show me your hands."
Sachiko looked puzzled, but she wasn't about to argue; she lifted her arms in front of her, her hands cuffed together. Alanna nudged Sachiko's foot out of the way, then, aiming the gun carefully, blasted the handcuffs right off.
"Okay, let's go," Alanna said. Sachiko just sat there, quivering as she stared at Alanna. "Come on, Sachiko, we don't exactly have all day here, we have to get out of here."
"We...?" she asked, staring uncertainly at Alanna.
Alanna, wondering how this was really the woman who'd betrayed her, grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to her feet. Still holding her by the hand, they ran out together, ducking down as they sprinted for the truck. Gunshots were still firing overhead; even once she'd gotten behind the truck, she jumped with surprise as the crane overhead swung around to smash into one of the fleeing soldiers.
"<Get them!>" she heard someone shout from their own side.
Alanna grabbed her radio. "<I have who I'm here for, and the prisoners are out. I'm taking her back now,>" she said. This was the part where they'd planned on splitting ways. Someone else would take control of the crane truck; they planned on going all the way to the receiving gulag. But even the group's leader had reluctantly agreed with Alanna; Sachiko was only valuable for information, and better off getting her back to safety so she could be interrogated as soon as possible.
"<Roger that,>" the voice that had been bothering her before responded.
"<Godspeed,>" someone else added.
Alanna smiled a bit, and undid a set of straps holding a lightweight ATV onto the back of the truck, dragging it onto the road. It didn't weigh a whole lot more than a bicycle, despite having four wheels, but it'd carry the two of them back to Moscow through the safety of the countryside, at least. She tossed Sachiko the jacket that she'd left there; she put it on quickly.
"I... I can't believe you came...," Sachiko whimpered, standing and watching.
Alanna climbed on, motioning to Sachiko. "We've got to get going," she said, trying to avoid talking about why she'd come to begin with. Sachiko slowly got on behind Alanna, hesitating before she put her hands on Alanna's waist.
"Hold on tight, this is going to be a bumpy ride," Alanna instructed, starting up the ATV; waiting for Sachiko to get a firmer hold before she peeled off.
The road behind them was blocked by the other five cars in their little convoy, but it didn't matter; she was heading off the road anyway. Sure enough, both of them felt a jerk as they jumped off the edge of the road, bumping along as she drove into the countryside. She didn't stray too far away from the road at first; as far as they knew, she wasn't familiar with the countryside.
They drove on in silence for a while, the only noise the quiet whurr of the engine and the sound of brush being trampled under their vehicle's wheels.
"A-Alanna?" Sachiko finally asked.
Alanna sighed; despite having just gone well out of her way and risking her life to save Sachiko's, she still didn't want to talk. She just felt weird and uncomfortable.
"...yes?" Alanna responded, reluctantly.
"Why?" was all that Sachiko could ask. Alanna didn't answer immediately; she gave her response a lot of thought.
"Because I need your help," Alanna lied.
Sachiko held onto her tightly, resting her head against Alanna's shoulder. Alanna heard her sobbing quietly; she wondered if it was because of her answer.
"You know, Alanna... I know it doesn't make it right, but I feel so awful...," she said quietly. "Can you ever forgive me?"
"I don't know," Alanna said-- that wasn't a lie.
Sachiko said nothing for a while, still holding her head close against Alanna's shoulder, crying. Finally, she said, "You know how I told you I lied earlier? That I just said I loved you to take advantage of you?"
How could I forget, Alanna thought. She'd been suspicious of the other lies from day one, but that had been the one final strike; even though she knew there was more to Sachiko then she was letting on, it had hurt the most when Sachiko had admitted to manipulating her feelings by pretending to be so innocent, and in love with her.
"How could I forget," Alanna said.
"Well...," Sachiko started, timidly, hesitating for a good while before she finished her sentence. "I was lying then."
The ATV came to a sudden halt.
"What?" Alanna asked, taken aback. "What do you mean?"
Sachiko let go of Alanna, whimpering quietly. "I mean... that it wasn't a lie at all. I... really did fall in love with you. God, I really did," she said, barely above a whisper. Alanna noticed that she wasn't doing her usual 'um' thing that she'd done before when she was nervous; she wondered if that really was part of her normal manner of speech or not.
"Is that true?" Alanna asked, wondering why she did instantly afterwards.
"God, Alanna, look at me," Sachiko said, still crying. "Super tough secret agent KGB bitch, reduced to... reduced to fucking emotional wreck? You know why I got arrested in the first place, Alanna?"
"Why?" Alanna asked, unable to turn around and look at her at all. All expression had left her voice.
"Because I wouldn't give you up," Sachiko said. She chuckled, nervously, then laughed. "I'm serious. I got into this whole mess trying to find information to help my country, you know, do my part to stop all these god damned awful wars? And then... I fell in love? God. I don't know what's wrong with me.
"But...," Sachiko continued, sniffling, "I love you. I wasn't lying about that. I'm not trying to impress you or prove anything... I just thought you deserved to know the truth."
Alanna sat there, staring off into the distance. I don't know if I can believe that, she told herself; but that wasn't what she was really thinking at all. Finally, she turned around to look at Sachiko; she somehow seemed completely different than from before, like a completely different person. Before, she was nervous and quivering, but always with a playful look in her eyes; now, when she stared at her, she saw a whole new confidence in those eyes, even though they were swolen and red from crying. She saw what she knew was sincerity in Sachiko's expression.
She had no idea how to react at all. It changed everything-- or did it? Sachiko had still been dishonest with her after all, but Alanna knew full well that the real reason she'd insisted on rescuing her was because she still liked her.
Not like, Alanna thought to herself, reminded of Sachiko's first confession-- the one that'd been sincere, she realized. Now I'm being childish. Love. She kept staring at Sachiko, trying to think of desperately how to respond; she was quivering herself, she realized. She would've laughed, would've said something, but she couldn't bring herself to do either. She just kept staring into Sachiko's eyes.
No more thinking, she thought, it's confusing me. Then, acting entirely on impulse, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Sachiko suddenly and kissing her.
If Sachiko was surprised, she didn't show it, and kissed back, briefly; she was warm. But Sachiko broke off, looking at Alanna uncertainly, then hugged her back tightly. Both felt weird, neither sure who was comforting who.
When they finally let go of eachother, they both still kept staring, uncertain of what to do. After a moment, Alanna forced herself to smile, wiping the tears from Sachiko's eyes. But they stayed silent for a while all the same.
"Hey... Sachiko?" Alanna blurted out, finally; the usual confidence to her voice completely missing. "You remember when I, uh... said I rescued you just because I needed your help?"
"Yes?" Sachiko said quietly, surprised at how Alanna seemed.
"Well," Alanna chuckled nervously, an awkward smile forming on her face, "I lied. So... I think we're even now."
Inside, Alanna knew that a part of her would normally be furious at herself for saying that; it wasn't at all the same thing as what Sachiko had done to her, not even close, and it was crazy to just let it all go like that. But to her surprise, that part of her stayed silent; she'd dismissed Sachiko's betrayal, just like that, and she didn't couldn't even care at all? She was surprised herself.
"Thank you, Alanna," she said, barely more than a whisper, bowing her head. "You're amazing."
"Yeah, yeah," Alanna pulled Sachiko in close, hugging her so that her face was pulled up against her chest; she tried to do her normal thing where she shrugged off compliments, but this time, it just sounded meek.
Eventually-- after what felt like forever-- they managed to get over
crying over eachother and got back to driving again. Both still felt weird,
especially Alanna, who wasn't used to the feeling of her heart being
aflutter; but at least they were calm.
"Hey," Sachiko said after they'd spent a while driving. "Where are we headed to?"
"The plan was to get you back to Moscow, where the little rebel group I met up with's leader was going to interrogate you for all your dirty little KGB secrets," Alanna said.
"I don't suppose we could avoid that," Sachiko said. Alanna was surprised to hear the hint of sarcasm in her voice. She'd never heard that from Sachiko before; it seemed unlike her.
"Are you kidding? We should be about 400 kilometres in the other direction from Moscow by now," Alanna told her. "We just got out of the frying pan; and as much as it makes for a nice metaphor, I have zero intention of rushing headfirst into the fire."
"My hero," Sachiko said, hugging her tightly.