War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 671 The Last Straw

On the cold and windy Siberian tundra, the drill core sampling machine just set up was tirelessly drilling core samples under the busy work of Talas and Sharip.

In the warm cab, Wei Ran unhurriedly lit the small cast-iron stove, boiled a pot of water, and brewed a pot of black tea with an exquisite porcelain teapot picked up from the mine, thinking about Abo At this time, Li was busy with something in the radio station of the mine, drinking tea one after another.

Before he finished his cup of tea, Agwan also got into the cab, opened the glove box in front of the seat familiarly, and found a pair of pistol grip patches and a The file continued to work.

Turning around, he took out a teacup and matching tray from the wooden box behind the seat, Wei Ran poured a pot of tea for the other party and placed it on the ammunition box that served as a small table.

"Thank you," Agwan replied honestly.

"When is Mr. Pavel's birthday?" Wei Ran asked casually.

"The 26th, December 12th." Agwan replied with a smile, "it's the day after Christmas in America."

"This time is really special." Wei Ran smacked his lips, and his expression became more and more strange.

"Very special? It is indeed very special, and there are exactly 10 days left before today."

Agwan blew vigorously on the debris that had just been rubbed off. Before Wei Ran could reply, Dr. Murat's voice came from the small speaker above his head, "Victor, Agwan, pack up the supplies immediately." , we return to camp."

"Return to the camp?" Agwan looked at Wei Ran in astonishment, "Didn't we just rush here?"

"How do I know?"

Wei Ran responded subconsciously, but then he thought of something, but on the surface he still said as usual, "How do I know, maybe there is something important."

Before he finished speaking, he opened the car door and jumped down, ran to the busy Talas and Sharip, and together with Agwan who came later, helped them get the sampling equipment and tents they had just brought down. The equipment and supplies were sent back to the cargo hold.

When he got into the cab again, Agwan's slightly flustered voice came from the small speaker above his head, urging him to return to the abandoned mine immediately.

Although Agwan also didn't explain, Wei Ran became more and more sure of his guess.If he remembered correctly, today happened to be December 1991, 12.Historically, this day is also the day when Kazakhstan declared its independence.

Compared with Russia, Wu Kelan and Belarus, which had previously announced their separation from the Soviet Union, Hasa's independence does not seem to be a very important role.

But this is not the case for the scientific research team in the living cabin. For them, Kazakhstan is almost equivalent to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and losing the Cosmodrome is tantamount to putting pressure on their scientific research projects. The last straw.

I just don't know if Hasa's independence will also have any impact on Apolly.

Wei Ran touched the Makorov silent pistol hidden behind the dashboard, and then stepped on the accelerator to increase the speed of the car.

The distance from left to right is only a few kilometers, no matter how rough the road conditions are, it will not waste much time at all.However, when the main building of the mine gradually appeared in the field of vision, Wei Ran in the driver's cab also faintly heard singing that seemed to be absent.

Pushing open the heavy car door, there was indeed an intermittent song "Ode to the Soviet Union" in the bitter cold wind.

As the singing gradually became clearer, the building outside the car window became clearer.In the end, when Wei Ran parked the car at the door of the workshop, even the people in the living cabin heard the Soviet national anthem that had started playing for the second time.

But soon, the national anthem stopped abruptly, and Apolly, who was still in the radio station, had apparently spotted them.

Before Wei Ran turned off the engine, Dr. Murat's voice came again from the speaker above his head, "Victor, drive the car into the workshop, we will not leave here for the next few days."

Hearing this, Wei Ran, who was about to turn off the engine, stepped on the accelerator again, and steered the transport vehicle back into the workshop.

Almost at the same time he turned off the engine, Apolly also ran over with a gun.

"What's the matter?" Apoli, who was wearing a mask and goggles, asked Wei Ran to open the door of the driver's cab.

"I do not know either"

Wei Ran pointed to the direction of the living cabin behind him, "It's Dr. Murat's order. He just said that he might not leave here in the next few days."

Hearing this, Apoli immediately ran to the rear of the car.When Wei Ran followed him into the living cabin, he immediately noticed that the atmosphere inside was a bit too depressing.

Dr. Murat, who was sitting at the table, glanced at Apoli and Wei Ran, and said straight after a moment of silence, "Hasa is independent, we lost the launch center, and if there is no accident, the April launch plan should have been cancelled. gone."

"Hasa became independent?" Apoli was taken aback, "When did it happen?"

"Just now"

Pavel pointed to the broken radio and said, "The news on the All-Soviet radio station just now is that Hasa has become independent."

"That"

"I couldn't hold back and broke the radio"

Dr. Murat took the initiative to say, "We need to continue to listen to the latest news, and by the way, we also need to discuss whether we should continue to stay or go back as soon as possible."

"Okay, don't waste your time here."

Pavel stood up while speaking, "Apoli, please turn on the radio at the radio station, we need to listen to the latest news."

"Okay, I'll turn on the radio right away!" Apoli responded in a panic, and stumbled out of the living cabin.

"Let's go too"

Murat also stood up, "Let's go to that auditorium and discuss there what we should do next."

Before the words were finished, the two doctors, Murat and Pavel, had already left the living cabin one after the other, leaving only five young people including Wei Ran who looked at each other in blank dismay.

"Let's go too." Talas rubbed his face vigorously, took a plastic notebook and chased after him.

"This small team looks like it's about to disintegrate"

Wei Ran muttered something to himself, silently took out his camera, and was the last one to walk out of the living cabin, and then walked into the abandoned building with no temperature.

Amidst the echoing sound of the broadcast, a group of people came to the auditorium on the top floor one after another, and sat down in the places closest to the stage, quietly listening to the broadcast from the loudspeaker above their heads.

After a long time, the news program finally came to an end. Dr. Murat crushed the cigarette butt on the table, sighed and said, "Khasa has become independent, and the last Soviet Union country has disappeared. The Soviet Union no longer exists in fact."

"Isn't there still the Commonwealth of Independent States?" Taras couldn't help but said, "Maybe we can."

"What we're discussing has nothing to do with this"

Pavel said in a depressed tone, "What we want to discuss is whether our scientific research project should continue, whether we should stay here and continue to complete the sampling work."

"Pavel was right"

Dr. Murat continued, "Children, we want to hear your real thoughts. Of course, you don't have to rush out of the decision. Thanks to Comrade Apoli, we have enough supplies, so we have enough time to consider this matter .”

"Two Teachers"

Gennady stood up and asked, "Compared to leaving immediately or staying temporarily, I want to know first, what kind of result will our Tinder project face in the end?"

"do not know"

Murat replied blankly, "Personally, I hope that I can complete this project by myself, even if it fails in the end. But from a legal point of view, I don't know the final project and the Siberian Branch of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Who will it belong to?"

"At least it won't be the Soviet Union." Pavel sighed. "Children, let us decide whether to stay or leave."

"Apolly" Murat raised his voice slightly, "You and Victor also have the right to express their opinions."

"Wherever the scientific research project goes, I will go there."

Standing at the entrance of this auditorium, Apoli held his AK rifle and said, "My order is to ensure the safety of you and the safety of the Tinder project."

"What about you?" Murat looked at Wei Ran, "Victor, what's your opinion?"

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Wei Ran standing beside Apoli took a deep breath, and replied loudly, "I am the driver of the transport vehicle, and my order is to drive the transport vehicle, so you can continue to drive my transport vehicle." As parts of the transport vehicle. Simply put, wherever you need the transport vehicle to go, I will drive it there."

"It seems that the soldiers of the Soviet Union are still the most steadfast people"

Murat didn't know whether to praise or sarcastically sighed, "At this point, I admit that I have been shaken. So comrades, students, let us all give ourselves some time to think carefully before making a decision. At this time tomorrow, we will decide whether to leave or stay here."

Before the words were finished, Murat got up and left the auditorium slowly. He only sent a "thank you" almost raving when he passed by Apoli and Wei Ran.

Watching the six teachers and students leave one after another, Apoli lit a cigarette on his own, sat on the steps covered with a red carpet, stretched his legs and asked, "Victor, do you want to leave here?"

"It doesn't matter"

Wei Ran sat beside the other party, took the cigarette handed over by the other party and lit it, "I will carry out the task according to the order. Before the new task is issued, nothing can change my position."

"You are a pure soldier"

"Maybe." Wei Ran replied noncommittally, "What about you?"

"What am I?"

"You're not just a soldier, are you?" Wei Ran asked straightforwardly the long-standing doubts in his heart in the empty auditorium.

Apoli took a puff of smoke and whispered in the lingering light blue smoke, "I belong to the Baikonur Cosmodrome and am responsible for escorting the Tinder project."

"Shouldn't this kind of thing be kept secret?" Wei Ran asked in surprise, he didn't expect the other party to come back so straightforward and honest.

"In a sense, it doesn't matter if I disclose my identity to all of you." Apoli spread his hands, as if worried that Wei Ran might misunderstand, and added, "Murat and Dr. Pavel Everyone knows my identity, you are the third."

"Understood, at most it's just killing everyone." Wei Ran asked with a normal expression, "So this project is very important?"

"I don't know, that's not something I should consider, and it has nothing to do with my mission." Apoli turned to look at Wei Ran, "However, I smell a very familiar smell on you."

“Maybe it’s the smell of food”

Wei Momofei smoked a few puffs of cigarette butts, patted his buttocks and stood up, and expressed his attitude as he walked out, "Comrade Apoli, I am just a transporter driver and a part-time cook. I may not necessarily help you , before you want to kill me, I won't hurt you."

"Thank you" Apoli said thanks without looking back, and let Wei Ran walk out of the auditorium alone.

(End of this chapter)