It's A Jungle Out There
By CD
Part Six
Steve woke up in the hospital bed he had been sharing with his wife, noticing
he was still a bit sweaty from their session a little while back. He moved over
to the sink to refresh himself when unexpectedly the nurse entered.
“I see you two enjoyed yourselves,” She said with a stern look.
Steve cringed, feeling like a child spotted by his mother with his hands on
the cookie jar. “You noticed?” Steve asked, trying to look innocent.
“With that noise it would be difficult not to notice. I heard you two giggling
about roughly five times,” She revealed as she folded her arms.
“I hope you don’t mind us two having some fun,” Steve said apologetically
with a large blush on his face.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s only natural, and we’re used
to worse things. We had quite a good time listening on you two, especially when
a doctor imitated you two,” She admitted, smiling.
Steve’s blush turned from strawberry red to tomato red. “Well, its
because we might not get another chance anytime soon and there was no one in
the ward and we guessed no one would get close to this room anyway so…”
“I understand, but this is the only ward in this hospital,” the nurse
explained and left, leaving Steve surprised.
However he was brought back to reality by an explosion. He turned around to
see that the wall had been blown up by a small group of the smuggler’s
lackeys, who were a tad annoyed that they had to run into people so soon.
“Mama Mia!” cried one. “I said ‘Buona Fortuna’, not
blow of the fortification!”
“We’ll probably need hostages to keep people off our tail now,”
one advised and eyed Steve and Flora.
Steve simply gulped.
“There you go. One special weapon coming right up,” one of the BATS
engineers updated Geegaw on her progress.
“You kinda remind me of my little girl. She’s an inventor too,”
Geegaw pointed out.
“Actually, I am no engineer,” The technician denied.
“And I’m not a pilot,” Geegaw stated matter-of-factly.
“No seriously, I am no engineer. I applied for a job as a mad scientist
but they rejected that offer because they needed engineers, not nutcases,”
she explained while installing the weapon under the wing of the Screaming Eagle.
“By the way, you haven’t even told me your name yet,” Geegaw
noted and took a cheese sandwich Monty hadn’t found yet.
The woman got out from under the wing and brushed herself off. She was a white
furred mouse with green eyes and long black hair. She wore a dark red latex
coverall with similar gloves, goggles and belt which were a brighter color of
red. Her speech had a hint of Asian to it.
“Minerva Bilderpavsky is my name, and causing havoc is my game. For that
reason, people tend to call me ‘Crazy Mina’, simply because I am a
tad unstable,” She explained and sat down next to Geegaw.
“Really?” Geegaw prodded, hoping this mouse was not truly mad.
“Well, my colleagues would probably know. If only they had the guts to
talk about me.”
Geegaw carefully moved away from her, not willing to risk his health in a debate
about sane and insane. Minerva noticed and raised an eyebrow.
“You truly think I am one ingredient short of a concoction, do you?”
she said neutrally.
Geegaw tried not to sweat and was trying to think of a way the steer the conversation
away from Mina. “Uh, do you want a sandwich?” he asked nervously.
“If you do not mind,” she agreed and took the peanut butter sandwich
he handed her and took a bite.
Geegaw watched as she plunged her teeth into the hapless sandwich and tore a
part off it. She proceeded to crush the piece of peanut butter sandwich under
her jaws until nothing was left of it. She noticed Geegaw staring at how she
ate her prey and swallowed.
“Chew often before you swallow, so the food enters your blood in healthy
and normal way,” she instructed and nodded toward Geegaw’s sandwich.
For some reason, Geegaw’s appetite was gone now. He needed another distraction
to keep the female from turning the conversation back to her.
“I think I need to go to the bathroom. Excuse me for a moment,” he
said and got up.
“You are forgetting your food!” Minerva shouted but the aviator mouse
didn’t hear her, apparently his hearing range was really short. “Ah
well, would be a waste to leave it here,” She reasoned and took a greedy
bite out of it. Hmm, cheese with salad and saliva, she mused as she swallowed.
Flora regained consciousness to find out that she’d been shackled to a
wall. She scanned her surroundings to see Steve next to her who was still out
of commission. The room she was in was large and it looked very much like a
repair garage or empty storage room. A rodent sized truck was parked in it but
otherwise there wasn’t much else that was noteworthy.
“You okay darling?” she asked her husband which brought him back to
reality.
“What is this place? Who took us here?” Steve wondered as he looked
around as well.
“I suppose we can only wait for someone to tell us.”
The large door opened and sunlight greeted the two Nutcrackers. Flora could
spot two figures standing, the one a bit taller than the other. The two moved
closer and Flora could see them clearer. The big one looked like a Russian Cold
War general while the other was dressed as a low ranking officer, both Siberian
chipmunks. Flora noted that the higher ranking officer was rather old and wore
a fur coat in the heat of the day.
“I see you two have woke up,” The elder noted in heavy accent “I’m
Sergei Tcharkovsky and you’re hostages.”
“Thanks for telling me, but I figured that out when I noticed I was shackled
to this comfy wall of yours,” Steve retorted grumpily.
“We just don’t want you and your girl to wander off. Someone might
take offense at that,” Sergei informed and moved a bit closer “Not
that escaping would help at all. We’re in middle of jungle here so it’s
unlikely you’ll ever report to what you’ve been through.”
Sergei took his handkerchief out of his pocket and before Steve could protest
the general had gagged him. He then turned his attention to Steve’s wife.
“You know, many people would commit a murder to have girl like you. So
I’m going to be generous for once; If you were to join me I’d be willing
to share my success with you. Ever since Russia’s mighty government fell,
I’ve been planning to restore glory to the Motherland. And lately I’ve
had a lot of success, so much in fact that I can nearly taste victory, and it’s
sweet. Your support could only make it more satisfying so take part in my revolution
and you’ll be on the winning side. This has advantages for the both of
us, you should consider it. Have you never dreamed of the idea that largest
country on the globe should be most powerful? In that case your United States
finishes only third. My glory could be that of yours and that of the people
of Russia.”
“The ‘glory’ you’re thinking has only brought death and
destruction to your home country. And yet, you’re too blind to understand
that democracy is the only hope of recovery for your nation?” Flora questioned,
hoping to beat this old man to it.
Such was not the case as the Siberian only sighed and shook his head.
“Have you seen what your ‘democracy’ did to this world? Nearly
every western nation has nuclear bomb now. And that while masses of people have
protested against it! In sixties, right now, and in the future humanity and
our version of it there is fierce resistance against development of weapons.
Democrats won’t let opinions of millions of people influence their decision,
claiming that the people wanted them to rule and they are doing that. Compared
to such a government, our kind is not that bad. We never lie, we do what WE
want and not what our subjects want. Why would we need to lie to our people
if they have no power at all? I’ve served through many skirmishes between
your ‘democracy’ and our ‘dictatorship’ and never did public
opinion cloud my decision, neither did capitalist generals ever put the wishes
of a civilian before mission objective. Democracy will not lead to Utopia, only
to more lies and cover-ups. Can you, yourself, rule a country when the burden
of hypocrisy and the sin of lying is constantly following you like the Grim
Reaper, ready to take you forever? As dictator you’ll never have this problem,
you just do what you think is good. Which would you prefer? Or do you perhaps
have no interest in the world around you?” Sergei spoke, like a teacher
to his pupil.
“Could you move a bit closer so I can bite you?” Flora requested harshly.
“Not surprising to hear that from an inferior creature. You are, after
all, American born and bred. You have no idea what some people go through in
day-to-day life. Well I can tell you I’m much more accustomed to hazards
like grief, coldness and aggression. If you served in the military for as long
as I did you might understand, provided you won’t join that group of sissies
that call themselves the BATS. We could have put our differences aside and rule
as king and queen. Even though you are weaker,” Sergei explained sadly.
“Do you value your life?” Flora remarked but the Siberian already
started to leave.
When he had left the building the other free chipmunk took the gag from Steve’s
mouth. “And he didn’t even give me any advice.” Steve complained,
sarcasm evident.
“Who are you?” Flora asked a bit suspicious.
“I’m Alexander, but everyone simply calls me Alex.”
“What happened to you that you joined these guys? You don’t look like
a terrorist to me,” asked Steve, carefully.
“Looks can be deceiving, but in this case you’re right sir. I don’t
fancy myself a smuggler, it’s just not me. I joined Russia’s army
to defend my country against the ever present threat of a sneaky attack from
China. The people’s republic still believes it has claims on everything
that is close to its borders. Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, and part of Russia itself.”
Alex paused to sit down and rub his feet. “Anyway, one night when I had
one too many drinks I was given an offer to join a so-called ‘special forces’
group that later proved to be nothing more than Sergei’s revolt army. And
I am glad to be its first and last member up until now. He made abuse of circumstances
but I signed up for it, and now I’m stuck with him. When he joined the
people in the smuggler camp I was automatically dragged into the situation as
well, but escape seems impossible. I can only hope the BATS will find this base
soon and they grant me amnesty. Anything better than hanging out here with an
army of ne’er-do-wells.”
Geegaw entered the Colonel’s office to find Petro Mendoza overlooking
a simulated battlefield of miniature tanks and soldiers, but his playful smile
quickly faded when he noticed there was someone to talk to him.
“You’re letting out your inner child, Colonel?” Geegaw prodded
teasingly.
“Ehm, no. I was just planning some strategies,” he revealed and picked
up one of the small tanks. “You see this? There are people in Korea, New
Guinea and Spain that would pay high prices for these, and we’re simply
discarding them! Thanks to your daughter we’ve got a gentler way with handling
violence, and it seems our new approach caught the eye of other United Species
members. Some agreed to adapt the same doctrine we’re now introducing.
You’ve been a great help along with your team.”
“Thanks, could I ask a question though?” Geegaw inquired.
“Fire away. What’s on your mind?”
“Well, that engineer who’s been working on my plane, the one they
call ‘Crazy Mina’, is she reliable?” Geegaw tried carefully.
“Of course you can trust her! She might have some screws loose but she
has a special way with vehicles. To bad she never wears her uniform,” Mendoza
replied heartily. “I don’t know how an idiot could know so much about
anything.”
“Well, she’s a bit unsettling and she doesn’t seem to be aware
of it,” Geegaw pressed on.
“Hah, I’m familiar with that. In fact, everyone at the engineering
crew has to put up with her bestial way of eating so nobody pays attention to
it anymore. Just humor her, and you’ll find a good and lighthearted friend
in her,” The Colonel encouraged.
Before Geegaw could ask another question Chip entered the room. “I just
want to know, how long are we going to have to wait until you take care of those
smugglers?” he wanted to know.
“Not long, we’ve planned our attack tomorrow. You can sit this one
out if you’d prefer, you and your team contributed a fair share in this
war.”
“No thanks, I think we’re still needed. Even if it was only to see
good win and to get a demonstration of Gadget’s new inventions. I think
the others would love it,” Chip declared as he smiled at the idea of vicious
smugglers at the mercy of Gadget’s specially designed military non-lethal
firearms and gizmos.
“I suppose it would only be fair. In a certain way, this is the reward
I owe you for helping us so much,” Petro admitted gratefully. “But
I do recommend you Rangers to get some rest before then, the trip alone will
be exhausting.”
“Thanks Colonel, glad to be working with you on this,” Chip praised
and left, Geegaw following him.
Mendoza just stood there watching them leave. He then turned to the miniature
tank he was still holding and huffed. “Who needs these things anyway?”
he said and skillfully threw it into the rubbish bin.