The five ZIL members had gathered in the control room of their airship.
“All right Great Beloved Leader, where next?” Marilyn asked cheerfully.
“I think the proper title is Great Leader Comrade,” Angel said.
“No, it’s Dear Beloved Leader,” Naz said.
“On second thoughts, I’ll go with Respected Comrade,” Marilyn offered.
“I’m not even going to use any Soviet terms like Comrade.” Riley put her foot down. “And we don’t need to imitate North Korea.”
“How about, just Stacy?” Stacy asked. “That will get a reaction from me already.”*
…
“All right Stacy, where do you want to go?” Marilyn asked after a pause.
“While you were all fighting your Mentors, I was talking to mine,” Stacy said. “She advised me to head for Rzhev.”
The mention of Rzhev made everyone puzzled.
“Rzhev isn’t far,” Marilyn said as she consulted the computer. “But if we’re going to travel at the recommended speed of 10km per hour, we’ll take an entire day to get there.”
“Traveling at night too?” Riley asked.
“The entire region is well mapped. But since we’re starting out, could play it safe by moving only in the day. But will take two days then.”
“That’s totally fine,” Stacy said. “This does not have time urgency. And I need at least two sessions with my Mentor anyway.”
Riley’s gray swivelled to lock on Stacy.
“Mind telling us why you want to go to Rzhev?”
“Yes. I remember it’s just an average town,” Marilyn spoke up. “Apart from the battles of Rzhev, which were important in Soviet history.”
“Ah yes, the Rzhev Meat Grinder,” Angel remembered her history now. “But Rzhev was totally destroyed during the war. And nothing much about it later, was there?”
Stacy nodded soberly. “Going to Rzhev is just on the advice of my Mentor Elvira. Since we have no particular mission right now and the place is nearby. She said another Mentor had some relevant things to teach me along the way, and also after I see the place for myself.”
Riley was standing and Stacy was seated. So Stacy had to look up into Riley’s eyes.
“I get the impression this is relevant, isn’t it?” Riley asked. “Relevant for your professional development?”
Stacy nodded. “Elvira was not specific, because she’s an economist and also was not privy to my exact training program. The Rzhev part is not her area of expertise. But I’ll get some files sent to me. The Russian state has been building, renovating, or is planning to build monuments to the last war in these parts.”
Riley rolled her eyes. “I thought we were leaving that history behind. But the Citadel wants to keep reinforcing the memory of that history?”
Stacy nodded. “Our – I mean, the Russian economy is now much better than it was eight years ago. But it’s still a monumental – pun intended – waste of resources.”
Angel made a gesture. “Is there really no mystery hidden here? I suspect there has been graft and corruption, like what happens with public works in Kazakhstan. I’m sure there are lots of cost overruns and we will be asked to look into these. Bet you it’s some guy called Corruptovich at work.”
“We’ll know when we get there,” Stacy said.
XXX
Since it was past two when the MMM finally began ascending, there was not much time to prepare dinner. Stacy had to move fast. And she was not that familiar with the kitchen. So she had to use basic things that were easily available and which didn’t require a lot of preparation time…
This leads to ZIL Food 003 Stacy Intro. If you would like to read that, please click here. If not, just read on.
[ZIL Food episodes are fun for foodies and also general readers. Definitely click on the link if you’re the type who watch Korean eating shows, aspire to Food Tourism in other countries, look at cookbooks and recipes, enjoy food related pranks and jokes and so on. There is no paywall.]
When dinner was done, Naz had an inspiration. It was normal for Naz to have inspirations after food consumption.
“Come to think of it, since we’re starting out, I think I should introduce everyone to our Rolls Royce,” Naz said. “We have special functions and capabilities not found in the standard Rolls Royce Phantom EWB. Can I ask for everyone to accompany me to the garage?”
(This leads to ZIL Conversation 003a Naz Introduces the Rolls Royce. If you’d like to read more about the car, just click here. It is only slightly more technical, and there is no paywall. If not, just read on.)
Naz Didn’t buy lard
Now that the airship was traveling smoothly, Naz could take time off to unpack her purchases from the car. Angel helped carry everything to the kitchen. And she immediately noticed something.
“After buying so many things, you didn’t buy lard?” Angel asked.
“Why should I buy lard? It isn’t healthy!”
Angel sounded as though she was hoping to try some. Riley started suspecting that Angel was hoping to partake in something sinful.
“… wait a moment, you think I eat lard because I am part Ukrainian?”
“You are such a foodie. Surely you would have lard as well?”
“Not all Ukrainians eat lard. The Muslim and Jewish ones don’t! And I’m not Ukrainian enough anyway.”
“Oh…” Angel’s voice trailed off. Naz noticed Angel was looking at her body. After all, Naz was the most shapely of the ZIL members.
“Wait, you think I eat lard because I look that way?”
A light seemed to go up over Stacy’s head. “Oh-oh.”
Fortunately Naz didn’t take offense. Probably because Angel was also female. But if Angel was the name of some skinny Latin American or Filipino guy, Angel would probably be in serious trouble for suggesting, however indirectly, that a woman eats lard.
Naz always seemed to have some large metal tool within easy reach.
Marilyn took action to reduce tensions. “No, she thinks you eat lard because you are a mesomorph,” Marilyn said.
Some people might have taken offense at that, but fortunately this was a biologist’s word rather than a mechanical engineer’s. Naz didn’t pay attention to the word mesomorph. It just sounded complicated and sophisticated enough, so Naz gave Marilyn the benefit of the doubt.
Meanwhile, Marilyn smiled to herself. She had located some salo in the freezer. Considering that Angel and her were from non pork-eating cultures, and Stacy and Riley had small waistlines that left no possible room for salo consumption… if that freezer salo vanished, only one person could be responsible.
“Let’s see how long that salo can remain uneaten,” Marilyn thought to herself. She imagined Naz sneaking over one night to have a guilty snack.
Tampon Talk
Stacy was inspecting her new office when she suddenly heard happy sounds coming from next door.
“I looove the Benefactors!” Angel exclaimed.
Naz was not around, but Riley and Marilyn were also on this floor, inspecting their respective offices and equipment. They came running out to see what was the matter.
Angel was standing at the cleaning equipment store. Apart from mops and buckets, napkins and toilet paper was also stored here. And Angel stood holding something in plastic, kissing and hugging it.
‘Smac, Smak, Smax’, Angel went.
“Come on, what’s so special?” Stacy came forward. “Oh, sanitary pads!”
“There are also tampons!” Riley cheered, waving a large pack.
Stacy didn’t say anything but it was apparent that Riley shared Stacy’s more westernized preferences. Women from more conservative societies tended not to feel comfortable with inserting tampons.
In her role as cleaning lady, Angel was now inspecting the amount of stock available.
“Take a look at that. It’s practically half a year’s worth of pads for 5 women, and even comes in different sizes for different needs.”
Most ZIL members were used to working in a world that was dominated by male priorities, so it was with awe that they discovered the ship had been supplied with tampons and sanitary pads. Older generations of Soviet women did not enjoy such benefits in the workplace.
“Oh my, this is really a great workplace!” Marilyn was practically dancing with joy.
Stacy stood by smiling. This was a mildly amusing episode if you were in North America, where consumer goods were available in great abundance at modest prices. But people in the former USSR were not so well provisioned, and sanitary pads were very late to market in the Soviet Union. So this small detail brought great relief to ZIL members who feared they might not be able to get female necessities in some places.
…
After her initial delight, Marilyn now looked a little uncomfortable.
“I know some of our Benefactors are women. But the majority are still men. And they seem to know our intimate needs…”
Stacy hastened to reassure Marilyn.
“On international flights, supplying feminine necessities on board the airplane toilet is standard. Good flights offer different sizes of sanitary stuff too. I am completely not surprised that the people supplying our ship would do this also.”
“Oh? They’re so nice?” Marilyn looked surprised.
Now it was confirmed. Marilyn had never taken a commercial flight before.
Riley was thinking aloud. “Most international workplaces should do this also. Supply such things in the women’s. Would save a lot of trouble for their employees.”
“Riley, are you now convinced it is worth working for the Benefactors?” Stacy asked for fun.
“Free women’s necessities? This is definitely a woman-friendly workplace! I’m in!”
Shower and Sleep
Stacy had an enjoyable shower that night
To use American parlance, the rain shower was awesome. As somebody born and lived at high latitudes virtually all of her life, Stacy was not used to experiencing warm rain. This was like a tropical or summer rain. Aah….
It felt so good that when she got back to her room, Stacy wanted to sleep right away. And the bed was really inviting, with its high thread count sheets and the special foam mattress. So she took off all her clothes and slipped between the sheets, nude. It was that kind of situation where she didn’t want any clothes between herself and her soft, caressing, ultracomfortable sheets.
Stacy could not help it, but it was really mmm… mmm… mmm…
Total satisfaction.
…
Early the next day Stacy woke up and opened her wardrobe. And she stared.
“This is insane,” she said to herself. “Do the others also have similar wardrobes?”
This leads to a Vote: ZIL Vote 003 Clothing on Board. This is cross listed as Ecchi 003 since it lays the foundation for the Ecchi also. If you’d like to read more, click here. If not, please read on.
Rzhev’s surroundings
Despite its outsized reputation as a place of many battles, Rzhev was actually only a big town or small city of roughly 50,000 inhabitants. It wasn’t some military base, so the MMM could get close to Rzhev. But Stacy’s mentor wanted her to visit some of the settlements around Rzhev, so they parked the MMM over a nearby forest and descended into a thinly populated region that looked as though it hadn’t changed for centuries.
“Hey, don’t stare!” Naz urged Marilyn.
“They’re like us!” Marilyn’s eyes were big. “This is Uzbekistan with an extra XL-sized double helping of mud and spring snow!”
“Tashkent is not that bad,” Angel asserted. “I know.”
“I meant, the rural places in Uzbekistan that are poor and backward. This is just muddier and snowier.”
“Maybe the water is not draining because it’s low ground, near the Volga,” Angel thought aloud.
“Nyet. Looks exactly like what rural Russia should look like,” Naz said. “At least, in Gogol or Tolstoy’s writings.”
“I notice you say no in Russian but yes in Ukrainian.” (Angel had completely missed the irony in Naz’s voice.)
“When I want to be positive, I prefer to use Tak. If I want to be negative I definitely use Nyet.” And Naz put on a Russian face to emphasize the point. It was definitely a Nyet-face.
“Riley?” Stacy looked around.
Riley had spied something – or at least, she didn’t spy something. And since she didn’t think Russians would bury power cables underground, she got intrigued. And went to talk to a bunch of elderly folk sitting in the sun.
Riley came back with a sober look on her face.
“They’re terribly poor,” she noted.
…
“The Germans mocked Poles and Lithuanians for being poor. But we’re far richer than these folks here. It’s the 21st century, and they still have no electricity. No internet. No gas. No heating. No indoor pipes. Shared phones. Unpaved roads. Everyone using outhouse squat toilets,” Riley looked disturbed.
“And the roads in provincial towns are even worse than in rural Ukraine!” Naz added.
Naz tended to focus more on roads, because she often had to work on the vehicles that used these roads. Whereas if a farmer’s barn was falling apart or he didn’t have satellite TV, it had nothing to do with Naz.
“It’s a terribly unequal country,” Stacy acknowledged. “And extreme poverty coupled with isolation – lack of access to information – made it a lot easier to cast mind spells on the people.”
Stacy reflected that Russia in the early 21st century was not that different from Russia in the early 20th century or early 19th century. Since there were no cars on this particular road at present, it was not that obvious that this was the 21st century.
“Quite scary how you can come across people living in such a state less than two hours west from Moscow,” Naz said.
Walkaround
After visiting a few shabby hamlets surrounding Rzhev, the ZIL members drove into Rzhev town. Most of the town was just as run down as the rural hamlets. The playgrounds for children looked particularly dilapidated and dangerous, much to Riley’s discomfort.
Then Naz turned onto a road adjoining Revolution Square and found a place to park. And the view became totally different. This place was as well maintained and clean as any important public place in Sweden or Japan.
“All right, since we’re in a touristy place – at least, for those who like a certain version of history – we can walk around. How about we just do a free and easy tour of the place for the next hour or so?”
“Oh yes, I really want to see some historical stuff,” Marilyn said immediately.
Angel exhibited wariness on the other hand: “We’re in rural Russia now, they will treat outsiders badly.”
“I don’t think they’re going to do that. Maybe in some places there will be ethnic tension at times, but it’s not generally,” Naz said.
“Yes, but you look European enough to Russians. They’ll never pick on somebody with red hair and blue eyes.”
“These are the dumbskis,” Riley threw in her two centas’ worth.
“And they won’t pick on you? I can’t imagine Russians like Lithuanians too much,” Angel returned.
“They won’t know. I don’t think they can tell,” Riley mused. Come to think of it, Russians could not tell by face that Riley wasn’t Russian. How did Stalinist oppressors figure out who was Lithuanian?
… so did it mean that it was true? Riley also had enough Slavic genes that she blended into the population.
“Stacy, you’re the Russian. Tell us what you think.”
Stacy spoke up. “Ethnic disharmony is nowhere near the hell that the media portrays. But neither can I swear to anybody’s safety. And I think it is very sad.”
Stacy closed her eyes and opened them again. “Seventy plus years as the Soviet Union. Three generations of communism and propaganda about ethnic and racial equality. And they never eradicated tribalism!”
…
“Anyway, I don’t think anybody will be hostile to Marilyn. It’s you Angel, I’m sorry. Looks like yours will sometimes gets a poor reception in rural and small town Russian areas.”
Angel didn’t look too happy. But she couldn’t help looking the way she did. In any case she was quite prepared to punch mean thugs in the nose if they harassed her for being Central Asian.
“Speaking of which,” Naz spoke up. “I’m not that sure Marilyn will always be treated well.”
“Why not? She looks Caucasoid enough,” Riley said.
“Yes, but Marilyn is more tanned than the average Russian. Add her brown hair and green eyes – she looks more like a Jew or Tajik. That also makes for pretty poor treatment at the hands of the police.”
“All right, that’s a big problem,” Stacy agreed. “We don’t want to be noticed by the police, so we have to keep our heads low. But that means some of our members will get treated badly at times and have to just accept it.” To Angel, Stacy said, “this isn’t Kazakhstan. You can’t brawl your way out if someone disses you.”
Angel’s mood had been sinking, and she growled truculently: “Stacy, you think that it is normal for Kazakhs to fight with people in public?”
Stacy found herself having to placate Angel. “No, sorry, I don’t mean that. It’s just that we can’t – we don’t have an ideal response here. Mean and nasty people may deserve to be punched, but you can’t punch them for fear of getting unnecessary attention. So try to keep a low profile and avoid being provoked.”
Riley sighed visibly.
“See how difficult it is going to be, Stacy? Barely a few days as a team, and we already have to deal with ethnic and racial discrimination and tension.”
“So what do you propose?” Stacy asked gently.
“We go elsewhere. Baltic countries.”
“And you think Kazakhs and Asians and Muslims are going to be treated better in Lithuania?”
“You won’t be treated so poorly…” Riley began, but her voice trailed off. Seriously, she didn’t know, and wasn’t that sure. Doubtless better than the worst cases of police brutality and corruption in Russia. But did her compatriots really treat everybody fairly and equally? Did some of them not conveniently find some excuse to detain someone or other?
“And Riley, are there stories to uncover in these places?” Stacy asked.
“There’s not so much injustice, fewer outrages,” Riley admitted.
“Exactly. That’s why our place is here,” Stacy said. “I’m not against visiting the Baltics. But we should go where there are stories to uncover. And anywhere that racism is a serious problem, we should write and report about it too.”
“Writing solves anything?” Angel still looked as though she preferred to settle things with bad prejudiced guys using her fist.
“You can’t solve a problem unless you first know it exists,” Stacy said. “That’s why it is always good to shine light on injustice.”
Naz had been listening.
“How about we just go about in pairs. I think it’s safer anyway.”
“Let’s just do that,” Riley said. “Marilyn with me, all right?”
“Works fine with me,” Angel said quickly. She had some friction with Riley, so she preferred Naz anyway. Naz was as straightforward as Angel, and Naz was also inclined towards action.
“Stacy…” Marilyn pointed out. Their titular leader was going to be alone, and she was the one whom Russian authorities wanted to kill.
“It’s all right, I’m used to operating alone,” Stacy said with a tranquil smile.
…
Riley stood up straighter. She was the tallest member of the group, and a fair bit taller than Stacy. Whatever her feelings were about this newly formed group and its mission, Riley felt a sense of responsibility not to abandon her group leader.
“Stacy, we can’t protect you if you’re alone.”
“I’ll keep a low profile,” Stacy replied. “I’m good at that. I can evade soldiers and police very well; that’s how I managed to sneak into restricted areas in the past.”
Riley didn’t know how to answer to that. She was not good at this. She had not wanted to stay in Russia, but she did regard herself as a woman of her word. If Riley had agreed to stay with the team, she wanted something good to come of it. And getting her team leader killed or arrested would be a huge disaster.
“How about I come with you, and Marilyn walks about alone?” Riley asked.
“I can handle myself,” Marilyn said. “And I’m in a military coat. Nobody’s going to harass me in a military-themed area.”
Seeing her teammates so keen to protect her, Stacy readily agreed.