After Stacy had formally agreed to take on the responsibility of leading and named her team, the Benefactors continued discussing their expectations for ZIL members.
“We’ve arranged to rescue the five of you. We will continue to protect and nurture and fund your team. We will not compel you to take any particular mission in the field. But no matter what, your team has to stay together,” a Benefactor said. “Everyone can vote and contribute to decision making. But even people who are outvoted cannot just leave the team, or abandon the others.”
“You’re on an airship together, after all. You have to live together. Your survival depends on each other,” another Benefactor said.
At that moment something seemed to happen to the Benefactors. They stopped moving and appeared to be looking at something. Stacy guessed they were looking at a screen in front of them.
After half a minute, the Benefactors relaxed and resumed their former postures.
Someone addressed Stacy: “Do be aware that there was originally some resistance to someone of Russian nationality being appointed to lead.”
While Stacy was talking to her Benefactors, her teammates had entered a joint meeting with their own Benefactors. ZIL Conversation 001a First Group Meeting w Benefactors. If you’d like to read that, please click here. If not, just read on.
Stacy had heard this before. Lots of things were blamed on Russians, especially the disastrous policies of the USSR that had led to much suffering.
“Do they see me as- as Russian, rather than as an individual?”
“We’ve – I mean our colleagues – talked to your teammates, and they’ve gotten over their initial reaction. Yes, they are willing to see you as an individual. But they don’t want a style of top-down, heavy handed leadership which everyone associates with Russia.”
“In the first place I won’t lead like that. It’s right that we vote on important decisions. But if there is an issue, no problem, we can have any other person lead,” Stacy offered.
The Benefactors were strongly against that.
“One thing, Anastasia, that we cannot have: is to have you abandon leadership. Decisions are meant to be voted on. But in initiative taking – you must lead. And at crucial times, you may even need to command.”
“Why is that so?” Stacy was wary about anything that seemed to place responsibility on her shoulders, especially when ethnicity and nationalism had already been brought in as issues.
“This has nothing to do with your nationality,” a Benefactor said. “Nationality is just a coincidence. As explained earlier, it’s because of your mix of talents and abilities.”
“And my teammates?”
“They are all capable, intelligent, educated people,” came the answer. “Altynbekova’s focus is in chemical engineering and she also studied geosciences. Palandishvili is a mechanical engineer. Mirzayeva has a degree in biology. And Rimkus is to be your second in command. She studied electrical engineering and computer science.”*
You can explore ZIL Author’s Notes Mission 001 On Naming Conventions. If you’d like to read that, please click here. If not, just read on. [Author’s Notes often include spoilers, so there will be a delay, sometimes of a few months, before the link becomes active.]
“I’m a social scientist turned journalist,” Stacy said. “Economics and statistics. So I’m the odd one out.”
“Wrong. Your teammates are strong in the hard sciences. Your abilities and skills complement what they lack.”
“As we said, you are valuable because of your Tranquility Aura and your resistance to mind spells. Riley also has a little bit of natural mind spell resistance, which is why she is your natural second in command. She must take charge when you are incapacitated.
But Stacy, you must lead. And at times it will fall upon you to order your teammates about. Because your team will increasingly face opponents who can cast Mind spells. It is your aura and your magical skills that can protect your teammates from your foes.”
Stacy nodded. As she did so, she let her eyes narrow further until they were nearly completely hooded.
Interesting. This Benefactor was already making certain assumptions about what Stacy and her team would do.
Did Stacy ever promise that she would definitely take on fact finding missions? Let alone missions that involved fighting and opponents who could cast Mind spells? But the Benefactor already seemed to assume that was the case…
Perhaps this was true of the countries of the ex-USSR. If ever you wanted to research or investigate anything that somebody wanted to keep hidden, there was a high chance of a confrontation.
Stacy had seemed to be dozing off with her hooded eyes. Then her head jerked up. “But what about the fighting? I don’t actually have any combat skills.”
“We have Mentors who will help train you remotely so you can do some basic self-defence. But you are primarily a spell caster. Your combat powers will be almost entirely linked to your intellect and your mental abilities. Your teammates will handle most of the fighting.”
…
Stacy closed her eyes, remembering the events barely two hours ago. Which now seemed to be history…
Marilyn was clearly a ranged attacker. A sniper of sorts. Comparable to a Grad Rocket launcher… no, probably more like Lyudmila Pavlichenko.
Angel seemed to like hand to hand combat. Something like a T-34 tank?
Naz seemed to be a machine operator or driver. Logistically, comparable to a Ural truck?
And Riley, with her confident handling of short range pistol shooting… was she something like a precision shooter with decision making capabilities? That would make her something like an Mi-8 Helicopter?
…
“You’re smiling,” a Benefactor said.
Stacy opened her eyes. The Benefactors remained cloaked behind their silouhettes, but she sensed that at least a few were also smiling.
“I’m sorry, I was just trying to envision what my teammates are like, making a modern military comparison and what not. Even though I confess I am not all that knowledgeable about military things.”
“That’s all right. Just remember you should never pigeonhole your teammates. They have much potential, and they can do a lot more than just what you have seen them do so far,” a Benefactor said.
Another Benefactor spoke up. “Remember that like you, they can level up and improve themselves too. A good leader should try and help her teammates gain skills or improve her current skills over time. Your team becomes stronger when everyone gets stronger.”
Stacy nodded.
XXX
After talking with their own Benefactors, Stacy’s four colleagues emerged just as Stacy was exiting her own meeting.
“All right, our leader, you’re supposed to come up with the initiatives. I’m ready to hear you out. What do you propose?” Naz asked.
Stacy laid out her plans to travel within the lands of the ex-USSR, taking on written assignments and field missions whenever the opportunity arose.
“In the ex-USSR?”
“Yes. We’ll be traveling this region in the airship.”
Riley didn’t look happy. “Damn! And I was hoping to go far, far away!”
“And where do you want to go?” Stacy asked.
“Europe.”
“And you think you’ll get lots of good work in Europe?”
“Life is… just easier…” Riley said, her voice tailing off. Riley was starting to feel uncomfortable by where the conversation was going.
Truth be told, Riley didn’t even think that it was that important or enjoyable to live a comfortable life. There had to be other things. More meaningful things. Which was why she had fatefully volunteered into a project to rediscover the Jewish heritage of Lithuania. Despite having no Jewish ancestry.
“Well, Europe has lots of comforts,” Stacy said. “But it seems our Benefactors thought carefully about us. The ship they’re offering sounds really comfortable too.”
“As long as we have a gym, unlimited free internet access and hot showers anytime, I’m quite happy,” Angel said. “A good workplace!”
Naz shook her head, but she was not disagreeing with anything.
“I’m just impressed,” she said. “We have all the equipment and gadgets anyone could possibly want. And a Rolls-Royce! Wow! Driving it is a dream.”
“MMM. Mir Mriya Mir; Lord of Dreams and Peace,” Marilyn grinned. And to Stacy, she added, “I was the first one rescued. So I got to name our airship. I took words from Uzbek, Ukrainian and Russian respectively.”
“Um, you are all right with us traveling around on this ship and taking on missions and assignments and projects?” Stacy asked. She looked from Naz to Marilyn and back, since they seemed to be more amenable.
“I’ll go for anything meaningful and interesting, as long as I can still pay my bills,” Naz said. “And since we don’t need to pay rent or car installment payments, that’s a big plus.”
“Fuel and maintenance costs for an airship will be very high,” warned Riley.
“These will be partly subsidized by our Benefactors,” Stacy replied. “And our Benefactors guarantee us a steady stream of high paying written assignments. Foreign think tanks, multinational corporations and international agencies pay very high fees for our data collection and reports from places where they don’t have a local expert.
Angel had a smile on her face.
“Since we’ll be avoiding major cities and heavily populated areas to avoid being detected, this suits us fine. Most road infrastructure is very poor in the ex-USSR. We can go to places others can’t go, and we can write reports from there!” Angel put her hands together eagerly.
To Angel, this was a far more promising job than working in an oilfield complex with the constant stench of petrochemicals and thousands of horny men everywhere.
“I’m for it,” Marilyn said. “So long as, well, we don’t take on assignments without knowing what these are.”
At this, Marilyn’s face darkened slightly and her voice changed a little.
“What we do, has to be done in good conscience,” Marilyn concluded.
Stacy nodded. “We vote on all field missions. And in the worst possible cases, we will allow someone not to participate in a mission.”
“Then you have me on board,” Marilyn replied, her sunny tone returning.
Now everyone turned to Riley.
“Ri-ley?” Marilyn said with a sly grin. Riley backed off a little.
“We-ll?” Naz turned to look at Riley.
“Stacy, if I got you correct, we will be traveling through the lands of the ex-USSR in this airship?” Riley asked. “We’ll remain cloaked most of the time, and we’ll be working both on board this ship – producing field analyses and carrying out data collection tasks – and also take on missions in the field – that is, at ground level?”
“Yes.”
“I’m coming along,” Riley decided. “But on condition that we vote on missions, and I – or anyone – can back out of a mission if we feel it is against our principles.”
“That’s exactly what our Benefactors would have it,” Stacy returned. “So yes. Travel direction set by leader. Logistical or practical issues, will be decided by majority vote. Minority will have to accede.”
Now Stacy turned to look each of her teammates in the eye.
“Minority does not have the right to prevent majority from stopping at a city or region and taking on a mission. But we will have freedom of conscience. The minority does have the right to refuse to take part in missions. People can also refuse specific parts of a mission if the tactics proposed are against their principles.”
“Agreed,” Riley said. Then she reached out a slim, pale white hand and shook Stacy’s hand.
“Group handshake,” Naz proposed. And everybody reached out in a group handshake.
“We’re ZIL,” Stacy pronounced solemnly.
…
And this was how the ZIL Organization began. A group of people cloaked in shadows, who took on missions in the lands of the former Soviet Union.
XXX
The group was about to turn in for the night. Tomorrow or the day after, the Benefactors would present an employment package for the group.
“Would you like to take a hot shower?” Marilyn asked Stacy.
“Oh yes!”
Marilyn led Stacy to a different part of the building. Despite the aged and run down look of the facilities outside, Stacy marveled that it looked very clean and futuristic inside. This was definitely not like many Russian buildings. Where despite great attention and expense lavished on the main hall or reception area, the toilets were often left filthy and in severe disrepair.
“All right,” Marilyn stopped at a room with a couple of box-like structures. “This entire room is the bathroom, so you can lock the door once I leave. The shower is at the far end, through that door.
But before you take a shower, please hang your clothes in this closet like device. Use the wire mannequins to support your clothes. Use one mannequin to support each layer of your clothes.”
“What does it do?” Stacy kept her coat on.
“It’s got a scanner like light that passes up and down the entire length,” Marilyn replied. “I guess it is UV decontamination, and also radiation detection.”
This was the former Soviet Union after all. There were all kinds of secret places where experiments or accidents had taken place, resulting in environmental damage that wasn’t properly or publicly documented. Rather than feeling upset at such things, Stacy felt that the Benefactors were clearly cautious and protective of their proteges.
“You also need to step into that scanner and let them pass a light over your body. Do so before and after you take your shower. There is a little monitor there which will ask you to adopt a few poses, nothing very hard.”
Hmm…
Stacy wasn’t sure what all these things were for, but she did not feel uncomfortable. So when Marilyn departed, she locked the door for privacy. Then she placed the clothes on the wire mannequins as instructed, and also stepped into the body scanner.
As Marilyn had mentioned, the body scanner did tell Stacy to adopt some poses. None of these poses were hard for somebody who did yoga on a regular basis, even though Stacy didn’t quite understand the logic of posing.
At least the shower was entirely normal. Nothing futuristic and hi-tech about it.
XXX
Having spent part of her childhood in the Soviet Union, Stacy was accustomed to the idea that the outdoors was vast, but personal space indoors was limited.
So even though she had her own room at various times when she lived abroad, Stacy understood that the Benefactors might not be able to provide her with a room to herself.
But this base was quite well outfitted and appointed.
Each person had a room to herself, even if it was small and sparsely furnished. Nothing except one bed, one chair, a small writing desk with only one drawer and one lamp. The walls were entirely bare except for a small row of clothing hooks. No wallpaper and no pictures on the wall. Almost as though this was a detention facility.
When working as a journalist who was often on the move, Stacy was accustomed to putting up with poor situations. But the bed came with a quality mattress, so it was very comfortable. The room was warm yet well ventilated. And she slept soundly.
XXX
The next day Stacy was pleasantly surprised to find that Marilyn had prepared breakfast.
“It’s nothing great,” Marilyn said as she placed a huge platter of very yummy look plov on the table. “Just standard fare for company.”
“Where did you get these spices?” Stacy asked.
“They were already here,” Marilyn gestured at the kitchen cabinets.
“And how did you manage to make such good rice?” Angel spoke out. “I don’t remember you spending this amount of time in the kitchen, Marilyn.”
“Rice cooker,” Marilyn indicated. There was an elephant on the cover that said Zojirushi. “That’s one of the leading brands of rice cookers in the world.”
Marilyn’s hand had pointed to the rice cooker, which was standing next to the sink. Stacy noticed something else – the tap. It was a Hansgrohe – one of Europe’s leading brands.
And what was that fridge from which Marilyn had extracted supplies? A Gaggenau. One of Europe’s top brands.
…
Russia is practically a giant fridge by itself. Most rural Russians would just dig a cellar and not bother with a fridge. Residents of the Sakha Republic would get a fridge only to help defrost foods, not keep them frozen. But the Benefactors had installed such an expensive fridge here.
Such an expense – even though this entire hideout or base did not have a single decorative plant, fixture, painting or sculpture. The walls were entirely bare; all light fixtures were utilitarian and simple or industrial looking. All floors were covered by linoleum like a hospital or research lab.
Stacy had been observing the Benefactors’ way of doing things.
There were so few personal luxuries, yet quality was obvious.
The mattress had been excellent.
The sheets felt great. These had a very high thread count.
Instead of doing things the cheap way – such as expecting people to cook rice in pots – the Benefactors had provided one of the best rice cookers possible.
And neither did the Benefactors ignore having good quality fittings and appliances.
Stacy thought about the Rolls Royce that was now parked in a garage in this building. The paint on this Rolls Royce seemed extremely black. It wasn’t shiny at all. As though the car had been set up to look very low profile and avoid notice.
The whole set up gave her the impression of both wealth, and social disengagement. The Benefactors seemed to have funds and appreciate quality, yet they didn’t buy or install anything that wasn’t highly functional.
All these made Stacy feel ever more strongly that the Benefactors were legit. Or, at least, not Oligarchs.
Oligarchs were people who made lots of easy money via connections, corruption, unethical and immoral conduct, and so on. They typically spent a great deal of money on visible luxuries and unnecessary decorations or gaudy artworks to flaunt their wealth. They usually had little sense of the functional, since everything was done by servants and minions.
The Benefactors expressed themselves in the opposite manner. They did not care about aesthetics, which suggested that this team was not being assembled for show. They funded expensive but high quality fittings and appliances, which suggested that Stacy’s team would be well equipped and supplied. They had no vulgar decorations like gold plated items, which suggested they were not superficial people who spent money on useless things.
Despite her lingering doubts, Stacy felt that this was very promising.
…
And there was something else that Stacy noticed.
Naz and Riley sat on the chairs like Europeans. Like Stacy, Riley ate entirely with fork and spoon.
Naz used a spoon for the rice but didn’t hesitate to use a hand to pick up vegetables or meat.
Marilyn sat cross legged on a chair and ate with her right hand.
Angel didn’t sit cross legged, but she also ate the plov by hand. She used both hands.
This suggested that the ZIL members were sufficiently comfortable with each other that they did not need to conform to any single custom.
A good start.