Svetlana was a work of art; her body, her gentle features — but it was her intellect that she most cherished. Nervous about this, she knew she had a duty. She knew she must help these men. She was under orders from her own government to assist, to withhold nothing, and that fact concerned her greatly. This was no cakewalk, this was no simple task ahead of them, and Svetlana was scared out of her mind.
“I’m here to tell you the story of my father. I’m here to help fix what my government began over two decades ago. I’m not here for any other reason than to right an injustice,” she began, her voice hardly above a whisper. “I’m on your side, and I hope we can work together to fix this problem. Now let me begin…”
60
“The Cold War hurt my country,” Svetlana began. “More than my government will ever admit, the loss in Afghanistan is what did us in. That triumph was needed, needed to spread communism to the world. Needed to be a major influence.”
“Just want we need, a world filled with communists,” Clements insulted.
“If you’re suggesting I’m communist, I’m not. But for the Soviet Union, they banked on it. The Americans, though having lost in Vietnam, were gaining ground. Our defeat in Afghanistan set our country back, and during the time, my government got desperate.
“They tried everything against the Mujahideen. Tens of thousands of soldiers, helicopters and airplanes, mortars, you name it. The fought and fought and eventually the Soviet Union was pushed out by the Mujahideen. For those of you unclear on your history, they’re the same people you’re fighting today. A formidable enemy,” Svetlana said.
They all nodded at this.
“Same rules applied in ’84 as do today. There were no rules. The Mujahideen were constantly at conflict with one another, so when we invaded, they were battle ready. They were organized and angry, willing to die for their land. As your government learned in Vietnam, it’s hard to get any soldier to die in a far off land, even if Afghanistan is our neighbor, it felt a million miles from home,” Svetlana continued.
“So the Soviets fought the Taliban?” Clements asked, attempting to understand.
“No, the Mujahideen,” Rivers corrected. “It’s in just about any history book,” he smarted back.
“I’m usually too busy beating on SEALs to read”, Clements remarked.
“All right, enough,” Colonel Reynolds scolded. “The history lesson isn’t for higher education, it’s to let you know what happened. Before you hear the story, you must first learn why.”
“Fine, go on,” Clements grumbled, shooting up his middle finger at Rivers who laughed.
“Much like the Soviets helped the VC in Vietnam, the Americans helped the Mujahideen in the eighties. On the geopolitical scale, they couldn’t allow my country to win, much like Vietnam. They aided them with money, arms, tactics… whatever they needed,” Svetlana told.
“We even built most of their caves,” Reynolds added.
“Well that’s just great,” Clements said with a huff. “So we teach these fuckers how to fight, arm them, build them caves, and years later they use that shit on us. Am I following this history lesson correctly?” he snapped.
“Indeed. Welcome to the world of politics,” Reynolds replied. He could tell the tension in the room was causing Svetlana to balk. “Listen, back then, the Mujahideen were valuable fighters to the cause of keeping the Soviets at bay. We needed them to win. Thing was, though they were accustomed to war, they hadn’t seen a conventional army such as this. The Soviets brought everything — did anything they could to win. Remember, it’s only Americans who set certain rules to engagement. The Soviets held no such restraint. The goal was to invade and take over, and they nearly did.”
“I still can’t believe we aided terrorists,” Clements said in disgust. “Probably a Democrat in office, huh?”
“Actually, President Regan spoke highly about the Mujahideen. He praised them for being some of the greatest warriors ever,” Reynolds corrected. “We couldn’t have known we’d war here one day too. Politics happen, Sergeant. It’s just the way of the world. It’s our job to fix the messes politicians make. You know that.”
“I suppose,” Clements muttered.
Reynolds motioned for Svetlana to continue.
“So, these caves were built. The Americans assisted the Mujahideen with tactics and the sort, and the tide of battle began to change. The Mujahideen already had the home field advantage, much as the Taliban do now. They had the will to die, and now the tactics and equipment to go with it. They put up a hell of a fight, ended up victorious. The Soviet Union tucked tail and went back home, humiliated in defeat,” Svetlana said.
“Not such a bad thing,” Clements remarked.
“It is when we’re facing some of the same people now,” Elizabeth said. “And losing.”
“Says you,” Clements snapped.
“You know it, I know it. This war might last a hundred years and we’ll still be fighting it,” Elizabeth said. “That matters not, though. What happened is why we’re here, our purpose.”
“Good. Ya gonna get to the point?” Clements asked.
“The Soviet Union was a proud culture. We Russians still are, I suppose. But during those times, the war effort was dwindling, morale was low, the world stage watched as my government suffered defeat. We realized conventional tactics wouldn’t work — not against the Mujahideen. Their guerilla tactics always did, and our only way to combat this was to change our tactics. We did, however it was too late. By nineteen eighty-four, the war was lost. There was a big push, one final effort, but it was a mistake.”
“Khost,” Reynolds added.
“Sorry, excuse me for not understanding, but what’s the point still?” Clements asked.
Rivers touched Svetlana’s sleeve, smiling at her and winking, “Ma’am, don’t hold it against Country Fuck over there. He’s not the brightest guy in the world.”
“Fuck you, SEAL,” Clements barked.
After Colonel Reynolds got their attention once more, this time with a sharp tone, Svetlana continued. She told of the great push into Khost, the secret experiments going on at the time.
The chemical and biological weapons.
The successes and failures.
She told them how her father loved to fly, and was one of the Soviet Union’s top pilots.
Then, she told them about the cave.
61
“Now hold on a minute, that video we watched — of Sergeant York?” Dale began. “Look, you guys did a number on him. But still, he’s insane, right? That’s the whole point of this, isn’t it? Something in that cave makes you crazy.”
“I’m afraid you don’t understand,” Svetlana replied. “The Soviets created a human-hybrid that lives in that cave.”
Everyone sat up in their chairs, attentive.
“Now, let me get this straight,” Dale said, thinking, trying to piece this mystery together. “The Soviets are getting their asses kicked, so they get desperate, develop chemical weapons, drop it on people, nasty stuff — I’ve seen it. But even this approach doesn’t work. So, they go and—”
“They grasp the brink of insanity,” Svetlana continued for him. “They went well past humanity on this one, they created something that should never have been created.”
“For what purpose?” Dale asked.
“World domination. Imagine, an Army of super-soldiers. You could pump this chemical into your men before battle and you’d win every time. It was genius in theory, yet lacked in application.”
“Ya think?” Dale said, wide eyed. “They mess with a technology that’s at best theory…”