Ratmir loved the steppe. Marat easily persuaded him to go with him to the countryside - to burn meat, sit and admire the steppe landscape with his friends. To the east of the Black Steppe were deserted regions - there, along a dirt road, they raced in an off-road vehicle four of them. They shook on potholes, laughed and cursed when they shook so that they almost hit the ceiling. Pots and flasks rang in the trunk, heavy music screamed and rattled, and the sun roasted from a clear blue sky in a red-hot yellow ball.The steppe is without orientation, without hills or copses, without villages or rivers. You can stop anywhere, so we just stopped when we got tired of driving. Fuel for a fire in such places must be taken with you. There were several heavy bags of coals in the case. The military is bored with making such a fire, but there's nothing to be done. But it's easy and fast. With them in the company was Adil from the department of tactics and Salman, a former intelligence officer, no

The bosses thumped in the presidium room, behind the scenes of the assembly hall, separated behind a wall from all outsiders. The exasperated bosses wanted to be served not by barmaids, but by pretty girls from the reception. Chernaya and her friends put cognac and snacks on the table for them, and now they were waiting in the hallway, all of a sudden they needed something else, and eavesdropped, winking.Gamer Hull Amox justified himself to the main:- Bert, well, what claims to us? Well, sales are growing, engagement is growing. Give the go-ahead to a hybrid of showbiz with Wirth-sex, let's cut the dough even cooler.Bert Ulem took a sip of cognac and dragged on a cigarette.- Hull, understand, this is a different question. The money is already all ours. If you did not take this money from the client for the toy, Galaxy will still receive it on any other service. Now all our cash flows are just spinning from one department to another. What we need from you is not money, but days. We

The void this time was unusual. I sat in an armchair, in silence and darkness, went through the delight of freedom, as usual, crawled through fear, and waited for anger to rise from my own dark depths, through all the nerve channels. But now everything was different. Behind the fear, I felt a look “from there”, like a scanner, it was directed at me and studied. I felt that I was in some kind of energy bag - in his attention. It was as if I was being weighed, compared with something, put into a database search.Yes, it was a look, like a border guard's - carefully at me, in the face, then at the passport, then again intently at me, again at some document ... It was difficult for me to understand how this something in the void relates to me. There was no aggression or fear on the other side, but there was no indifference either. Non-excessive, mild curiosity, an attempt to remember something about me or understand what I am ...Then it disappeared, and the anger did not come, and the of

At the box office they gave me a ticket - a white cardboard long flap with gold embossing - letters, symbols. The words on the ticket were not clear, but I felt that my name was among them. With this cardboard in hand, he entered the doors indicated at the box office. Behind the doors opened a corridor - about ten meters, without windows, lit by the soft gray light of long lamps built into the ceiling and walls. I walked along the gray carpet that muffled the sound of footsteps to the reception. This is the frontline, what you need. The girls, all three, were as beautiful as a poster for a better life. Redhead, blonde and... I froze when I saw her. Black, with sad deep eyes, a smile - as if cheerful, but still bitter. It was she - the one with whom I wanted to live together, once in my youth I built plans and dreams. Who refused me and, in fact,I couldn’t think where I was, where she came from, what was happening and what could be done, I, confused and timid, approached their table,

- All right, I'll give you the opportunity to talk to the two detainees. Only without a camera. They look bad. Don't look at me like that. There is a war, and they are prisoners of war. My counterintelligence worked with them. No one will accuse me of anything, I did not break the law, but there is no need to show it.Major Kloss was sitting on a cot in his tent, wearing a T-shirt, rubbing his thick chest hair with his hand. His boots beside him, topped with wet socks, rested his bare feet. On a stool next to the cot was a glass of tea and a tray of sweets.- I should not let the press go to the prisoners, but I respect Fadir and trust you. These guys - captured militants can no longer be helped. But I would like you to have the intelligence and professionalism to bring their stories to others. To those just like them. There are billions of them in the galaxies. They were not brought here by faith. She brought a dream of justice and that they have the right to happiness. It was only l