In the morning, Kai learned that the meeting for the transfer of floppy disks had been agreed and that they would be leaving soon. Yesterday, thanks to what he had drunk, he quickly fell asleep and slept without any dreams or thoughts. Today, the absurdity of what was happening met him with its reality.
“Toyami, I hate you!”
If Kai had the opportunity now, he would have shot Toyami himself – such thoughts were in his head.
Kai looked stern and menacing. Even Gor stepped aside when Kai, without noticing him, walked and got into the car in the underground parking lot.
Gor, as usual, sat in the back right. Kai sat behind the driver, Tonn drove in front. Fakhr went by a different car. Two executive black tinted Mercedes, flanked by four huge black jeeps of security, flew out of the depths of the dungeon and drove at high speed towards Izir.
All the way, Kai was looking out of the window with detachment.
In Izir, a separate hall for negotiations, closed from outsiders, was rented at the Enpol Hotel. There, at the round table, everyone had already gathered – they were just waiting for their arrival.
Kai, surrounded by Araxes, dressed in black cloaks with hoods lowered to half of their face, entered the hall. They greeted each other and took their places at the table. With Gor, besides Fakhr and Tonn, there were three other assistants taken with them.
The table was large, so everyone was free to sit around it. They all were sitting in large, soft, comfortable chairs that stood at a distance from each other around the table. Everything was done for a comfortable stay here. Light curtains were closed, letting in the soft light from the street, crystal chandeliers burned on the ceiling, the floor was covered with a soft light carpet.
Sheikh Arshad, awaiting their arrival, chatted merrily with Toyami. With the Sheikh there was Gifar, Maqsud, and several others from his retinue. With Toyami – Izoa, Kunayo, and three other people whom Kai had not seen before. One of them sat next to Toyami and looked at him very intently. Kai met his eyes. The man’s eyes were open and, as it seemed to Kai, expressed a friendly attitude towards him. It was a man, clearly older than Toyami. He was tall, with very regular, masculine features, more European than Japanese. On his broad shoulders, there was an expensive dark suit, which fit perfectly and suited him so well.
As everyone gathered, the representative of Toyami announced the start of negotiations.
Before transferring the floppies, it was necessary to agree on the non-intersection of interests in the data that was in the floppies. These were verbal agreements based on the word of the interlocutor and witnesses who heard the promises being made. In wartime, such promises were more effective than written on paper and signed by an agreement. When all the points were discussed, the final part of the agreement on the transfer of floppy disks remained.
All this time Kai was sitting at the table with a scowl. He saw on himself the cold eyes of the triumphant Toyami and the sparkling eyes of the Sheikh, who was very amused by all this and, as it seemed to Kai, was even pleased with such an event. Also, Kai constantly felt Gor piercing through and through.
“Can we proceed to the completion of our agreements?” Toyami as if addressed everyone, but Kai understood, this was a question for him.
All were silent. There was silence in the hall.
Kai looked up and did not take his eyes off Toyami’s eyes.
He waited for a pause, then calmly got up and slowly walked over to Kai’s chair.
“Damn! I have to keep my word,” thought Kai and slowly leaned back in his chair, just as intently looking into his eyes.
Toyami bent over him, with his left hand, as if by chance, covered Kai’s hand, which was lying on the arm of the chair. Kai felt his iron grip. He realized that he would not twitch already. Toyami bent even lower. With his right hand, slightly touching, he ran up his neck to the chin, held his hand there, holding his chin and no longer letting it drop.
“How I love the glint of hatred in your eyes,” he said softly in Japanese and covered Kai’s lips with his.
Kai gritted his teeth, hoping to confine himself to such a kiss, but when he felt pain in his hand, he wanted to scream in surprise and realized that Toyami’s tongue was penetrating deep into his mouth, taking advantage of the fact that he unclenched his teeth.
The kiss was long, real. It was a wish that Toyami fulfilled. Kai felt the man’s desire on his lips, it pierced his body with a strange tremor.
Then Toyami abruptly pulled away and returned to his seat with a confident gait.
Kai quietly took a breath, which for some reason he lost, and lowered his eyes so that no one could see their sparkle. The trembling all over his body did not go away.
“This was beautiful!” Arshad spontaneously burst out.
“Izoa, give the floppy disks to the gentlemen,” Toyami said completely calmly.
They brought floppy disks, which Izoa personally handed over to Gor and Sheikh Arshad with a bow.
After discussing the general points of cooperation, the negotiations ended.
Arshad, putting his hand on Kai’s shoulder, went with him to the exit. They talked about the upcoming campaign of Arshad, after analyzing the data from the floppy disk. The Sheikh did not touch upon what had happened, did not want to cause a negative reaction from Kai again.
Kai walked him to the car. They hugged each other warmly goodbye.
Gor and his people were already waiting for Kai at their cars, they had to go. Saying goodbye to the Sheikh, Kai went to them.
“Kai, wait,” Toyami descended the stairs and gestured to him to step aside to the railing.
Fakhr took a step forward, worried, but Kai raised his hand looking at him. Fakhr understood and did not intervene yet.
“Can I talk to you?” Toyami hesitated, now he was not so arrogantly self-confident as during the kiss, “I didn’t want to …”
“Spare me a romantic showdown,” Kai interrupted sharply. “What didn’t you want? You promised me to do so – well done, you kept your word! Be proud!”
“Kai, you misunderstood everything, I really wanted to kiss you, but you would not agree, never,” Toyami said this with a bewildered look, trying to find at least a drop of hope in Kai’s eyes.
“Enough! You wanted to show everyone that you always achieve your goal – you showed it! I have nothing more to talk to you about.”
Kai took a step towards the cars. Toyami blocked his path.
The Araxes tensed – froze, waiting for Gor’s command. Kai saw it. The situation was heating up.
“You’re insensitive! You communicate with these non-humans and become the same as they are!” Toyami’s confusion turned into anger. “If you can only be reached by violent methods, then I will continue to act the way you like! I will get everything I want from you. I promise!”
“Let me through,” Kai hissed, looking into Toyami’s eyes.
He paused for a few seconds, but seeing the cold glint of Kai’s green eyes, he stepped aside.
“You’re just crazy, I wanted to tell you this for a long time!” Kai said angrily as he passed Toyami.
Toyami stayed where he was. Passions raged in him: indignation and resentment.
“Well, our roads will still cross! I will get it! I won’t give up so easily, the more unrealistic the goal, the sweeter the victory!”
Kai, without turning around, walked over to the car, got into it, nervously lit a cigarette, opening the window.
Gor silently watched Kai’s face, which was not angry, on the contrary, he looked sad and thoughtful.
Gor was confused. Again he was wrong in his calculations with Kai. According to him, Kai had done now what he did not want to do, which meant that he must be angry, angry, and feed those emotions that drive a person making plans for revenge. But that was not in Kai’s eyes. What amazed him now in his gaze? It was sadness … Probably, this was how the eyes of a person in which sadness should look.
“I was wrong about it again!”
It made Gor angry. How could he, a superman, not understand the actions of people? It could not be so! People are primitive and predictable. So why is this strange situation not clear to him now?
Kai – he had always been a mystery to them. His actions were illogical and defied their miscalculation.
That’s why they didn’t kill him. He was the only one of all people who could act differently every time contrary to the expectations.
***
Back in the laboratory, Kai immediately got into work. He was sitting with reagents and test tubes the whole night. He would not have broken away from recalculating chemical formulas, but the colonel called and said that Kai was urgently needed in the garrison. The colonel said that the jihadis blocked the road to the Zandar Valley and occupied a height from which they could shoot through most of the road. The road was important: it was used to supply everyone and the local population as well. There was a command order: to solve the problem as soon as possible quickly and not very noisy. This was Kai’s job. Therefore, they were urgently awaiting him.
Having written recommendations and formulas, he talked with Ton on the conduct of the experiment, then went to Gor to tell him that he needed to go to the garrison.
Horus was in the main hall with everyone, monitoring the progress of the experiment in the monitor.
Kai sat down next to him in the adjacent chair.
“Speak, I’m listening to you,” said the featureless voice of Gor.
“The colonel called me. Mujahideen shoot the road to the Zandar Valley. I have to go,” Kai looked at Gor, he never knew how he would behave. And now he did not understand Gor’s reaction to this news. He only hoped that he would take everything normally and let him out of here alive.
Gor was silent.
“Let go of Kai?”
There was a war – he could be killed. It would be very bad for them. Very bad. Kai worked well. Better than them. But he couldn’t lock him here. Kai wouldn’t work. And no amount of torture would break him. Gor knew it. They tortured him, then, forcing him to work for them – he almost died, but did not change his mind – he worked for them only on condition of his freedom.
“You can go,” said a featureless voice. Gor continued to stare at the monitor.
“Thank you,” Kai felt better. This time everything went peacefully. It’s good.
***
About the event that had taken place, Kodji could not talk to Toyami right away, as they were driving in the Mercedes with his assistant, and these were obviously extra ears.
Kodji was shocked to see Kai for the first time. When Toyami described Kai’s appearance, he calmly listened to him, realizing that any lover would talk about the object of his desire, describing him as the most beautiful and the like – the usual romantic nonsense. But today, when tall shadows in black cloaks entered the hall, one sight of which froze the blood in their veins, and he walked between them, Kodji realized that Toyami was right, in everything he was right.
“Who would have thought that he was Russian?!”
It was only in the evening that Kodji finally intercepted Toyami on his way to his tent.
“I am delighted with your choice! Truly delighted. I’m shocked!”
Toyami stopped and looked suspiciously at Kodji, who was also usually reserved.
Seeing Toyami’s unkind look, Kodji understood. He needed to explain:
“I’m not going to claim him. Do not worry. Although I liked him. I liked him very much. You should know and understand this,” Kodji took Toyami by the elbow and led him towards his tent – their conversation began to attract unwanted glances, “I will be sincerely glad if you will be with him. Trust me, I’ll be glad of it! You are more than a friend to me, you know that. Your happiness is very important to me. I see how harder and harder it is for you to fight loneliness. Do not interrupt!” Kodji felt that Toyami’s hand trembled, “listen to me. The loneliness of the soul is scary, very scary. You cannot fill this void with anything. In time, it will consume you. And Kai is alone, he is also alone. I saw his eyes, there is an emptiness there.”
“And you – you are also one?”
“I’m different. I fill my emptiness with joys, and it suits me. I’m different, Toyami,” Kouji said this with bitterness, realizing that his friend’s mental world was much richer and thinner than his. Therefore, he chose Toyami from all the youths. But it was a long time ago. Toyami was still very young, and he was older than him. Their relationship did not last long. Having comprehended all the subtleties of love joys, Toyami soon got tired of the second role. And it was not a question of bed, it was a question of their relationship in life. Toyami was already a leader, a winner. Even then, Kodji realized that Toyami would never be the defeated one. Never.
Kodji thought of Kai: was he ready to be defeated? No. Kai was also a leader! The worst thing was that Toyami hadn’t figured it out yet. Kai surpassed him in many ways. So was their relationship doomed?
Kodji spent the rest of the evening in Toyami’s tent. They had dinner together and then chatted about everything, like in the good old days of their failed relationship.
Finally, left alone, Toyami lost himself in thought.
Kai – he was thinking about him.
The memory of lips was still so real that he seemed to feel Kai’s lips – so warm, soft, and intoxicating …
Kai didn’t kiss him back, he just waited. Toyami understood that. Kai fulfilled the agreement and no more.
“Doesn’t my kiss mean anything to him? Nothing at all?”
That is why, on the steps of the stairs, he so wanted to see at least a spark of warmth in Kai’s eyes. But no, they were empty.
With this kiss, he achieved nothing, absolutely nothing!
“I won’t back down! I will get it! I promise! Our roads will still cross!”
***
Returning to the garrison, Kai, quickly changing into camouflage, jumped on the Pepper’s armored personnel carrier, and their column, consisting of five more vehicles, advanced towards the Zandar valley. His usual work began; his job was to kill. Yes, that’s why he is here, why they need him, why his life is theirs forever. He knows how to kill. And now, in addition to the general assignment that everyone received at the headquarters, he received his own – from them. He needed to kill one of the secret leaders in this gang of mujahideen, which was now shelling the valley. And it didn’t matter how he did it. They wanted results. Kai would complete this task. He didn’t belong to himself. He was only a tool in their hands – such was his life.
Sitting on the armored personnel carrier’s armor hot from the sun and holding the submachine gun at the ready, he swallowed through a handkerchief the dust raised by vehicles traveling along the road. He looked indifferently at the dull landscape: stones scorched by the sun, stunted trees twisted by the winds. Overhead was a merciless scorching sun. How tired he was of this. But was he able to change anything …
He forbade himself to think about such a strange event in his life. In his life, he met many different people with all sorts of oddities, so now – to think about everyone? It’s easier to remove everything from memory and move on. Moreover, the motives of Toyami’s act were quite clear to him. Most likely, Toyami even made a bet that he would achieve his goal. It was quite understandable, he needed to have at least something to have fun here. And so everything even came out very funny. Here’s what show he put on – amused everyone. What’s wrong that Kai was the highlight of this show?
“Nothing, I can survive it! I will hide my pride and live on. He decided to humiliate me in front of everyone. He did it well!”
Kai remembered Toyami’s eyes approaching him. Then, looking in them, he saw something else, not what he now strenuously wanted to convince himself. What was in the depths of his eyes? Why was it so good when his lips touched him?
“Why am I thinking about this? What for? It’s wrong, it shouldn’t be that way!”
Well, in his life there was a man who kissed him and drove him to a frenzy with his caresses. But this could be justified by the fact that Kai was in captivity. Arshad was the first to reveal to him that a man’s kiss can be so delightfully sweet, and caresses are so exciting that reality dissolves, and only he remained: his lips and hands and the tenderness that he gave Kai.
But the captivity ended, Arshad released him, and Kai swore that this would not happen again in his life. He knew that it was a sin and would not allow it again
This kiss – he would forget about it as an annoying misunderstanding. And he would forget about this warmth inside himself, about the strange feeling that he did not have from the kisses of Arshad. He would force himself to forget about everything and just move on.
***
After scouting the area, Kai worked out a combat operation, which they decided to carry out at night.
The guys worked well and smoothly. When the bandits realized that they were partially surrounded, they opened indiscriminate fire, then, in panic, abandoning some of their equipment, they hastily began to leave for the mountains.
Kai took advantage of the darkness to go down into the crevice, taking with him a sniper rifle with a night vision scope.
From his place it was visible how the line of bandits was going up the path, hiding further behind the stones.
“The main thing is to be on time!”
Kai carefully looked through the telescopic sight at the faces of the bandits heading into the mountains.
“Has he gone?”
This was bad, then he would have to follow him through the mountains until the opportunity presented itself to see him.
“So, he has gone!”
Kai put his rifle away and walked towards the mountain. He knew there was another path. And if he hurried up, he would be able to catch up with them, going across their path.
It was already daylight, he lay in the shade of the rock, holding his rifle at the ready, and waited for the group to appear.
This time he was lucky. He saw him, there can be no mistake. The face was exactly like in the photo sent to him from the center. Kai slowly pulled the trigger. The shot was not heard, the rifle had a silencer. The bullet entered exactly between the eyes. His corporate identity. To be sure. He did not want to run after his victim a second time.
They did not understand where they were shooting from. Here, in the mountains, they did not expect this shot. They were not ready.
Kai crawled deep into the rock, carefully folded his rifle, and, bending down, began to move away from the mujahideen rushing in panic.
In a few kilometers, a helicopter would be waiting for him. The main thing was to come to the set point in time and not meet anyone on the way.
The center would be pleased. He completed the task.
Bartholomew would swear after hearing his excuse about the loss of consciousness from the explosion – which was why they had not found him. And Frol would start abusing again, believing that he could get away with everything, even the fact that he had disappeared somewhere – he had been lying down while they had been fighting.
But it was not important.
It was only important that he completed the task. He would take his experiences deep inside so that no one guessed how hard it was for him to live a life that was not his own. How hard it was to accept that loneliness was his lot.
