Tennius cleared his throat and replied in a restrained tone:
«Mr. Saurris, you know that my degree of trust in Alex and his status allow me to do this, and even more so when it is necessary.»
«And when was the loss of Ch-15 discovered?» asked the tall and black-haired man. «And I still don’t understand why Alex didn’t turn on the field right after 213th had entered?»
«I have already checked this point. He did turn on the field, and this was clearly recorded on the camera. But apparently there was a technical error. The switch would not be pressed to the end, which, of course, is strange, according to its construction, but the guardian himself is not guilty of this. And the chip was discovered one second before I called you, dearest Mr. Nonnie,» there was a confident answer.
«Hmm… understandable. But I would not like to hear the adjective „dearest“ in my address.» Nonnie responded with obvious sarcasm.
«Ok, I’ll keep that in mind for the future,» Tennius nodded without emotion.
«And what do you intend to do now, Master Tennius?» the redhead asked.
«Personally, dear Alyette, I think that Alex spared these children in vain, but his fears about his older brother from the FSB are fully justified and are not a violation of job descriptions and a direct oversight on his part, so I clarified the information about this subject and simply ordered to return the 213th to him and still eliminate these teenagers, because in this case it is his job. Everything will look like an attack by a rabid beast.»
«To be honest, I don’t understand why we need to deal with such small things,» said one of the audience, a fat and bald man named Ounn, who had previously kept silent. «Like we don’t have bigger things to do.»
«Is there a signal from Ch-15, Mr. Tennius?» asked the lean Saurris.
«Yes, although sometimes it disappears, most likely due to geolocation, as, for example, right now.»
Nonnie and Alyette looked at each other, and Nonnie said:
«Well, I apologize for the misunderstanding of the situation, Mr. Tennius, and the unduly rude tone. Since 213th has brilliantly fulfilled his task, I think we can close this issue and get on with more important things. By the way, how much did he eliminate?
«Twenty-nine people, Mr. Nonnie. Including the general director of the aircraft factory.»
The others nodded in approval, and Saurris took out a document from his briefcase and unfolded it in front of the assembled.
* * *
Peter, Andrey’s and Lera’s older brother, was carefully examining a small transparent cylinder with some kind of complex electronic device inside, rolling it in his palm. He was very similar to his younger brother, though the Andrey was slightly taller. However, behind the gray suit, one could not see Peter’s steely muscles, and looking at his good-natured face, it was hard to imagine that he had lightning-fast reaction and huge punching power, both arms and legs. Andrey was also athletic, and also loved martial arts, but he knew perfectly well that in sparring he could not hold out against his older brother for even a few seconds. And physically, his brother was much stronger than him.
«Where did you say you got it?» asked Peter, looking at his younger brother with his light gray penetrating eyes.
Andrew shrugged.
«I already told you. This morning, after we had walked about thirteen kilometers from that same field, and were already near Malinovka, I accidentally reached into my pocket and found it there.»
«And how did you end up in the hay?»
«Oh! Haven’t I already told you?»
The brother looked at Andrey with his special look, which made it clear that if he asks about something, you need to answer without asking unnecessary questions, even if you have to tell the same thing dozens of times. Knowing that it could not be otherwise, Andrey sighed and continued:
«I don’t quite remember how we got there, or to be more precise, I don’t remember at all. And when I try to remember, all I see are vague images of us wandering through the woods in an unsuccessful attempt to find our way home.»
«And what is the data of the most recent memory?» Peter asked, looking straight into the eyes of his younger brother with the same fixed gaze.
«Well, I don’t know exactly what time it was… how can I know?
«Try to remember, was it evening, or still a day, or has it already been night?»
Lera intervened in the conversation:
«The last thing I remember is about eight or nine in the evening, because it was getting dark, and we were afraid that we would have time to find a suitable tree for the night before dark.»
«Oh! This is a new thing! Have you thought about finding a tree to sleep on?» Peter asked, turning his searching gaze to his younger sister, but this time there was much more tenderness in his eyes.
«Yes, there seemed to be some kind of tree, but for some reason I remember it very vaguely, as if it was in a dream,» Andrey answered.
Peter took in his hand his mobile phone, the model unknown to Andrey. As far as he remembered, he saw such a phone only with his older brother.
By pressing just one button, Peter brought the phone to his ear:
«Maksimych, urgent matter, code 012. As soon as possible.»
«Something happened?» Lera asked, scared.
«A helicopter is flying to take us. We have about 15 minutes.»
«Brother, what’s going on? Maybe you can explain to me, who has no understanding?»
«The phrase „no understanding“ doesn’t seem to fit you well. It’s strange that you were allowed to live. But your memory has definitely been erased,» Peter answered, and it was clear from his tone that he was not joking.
«What! Were we kidnapped? Is it a UFO? It’s their sensor, right? I thought so,» Andrey exclaimed with annoyance in his voice.
Slightly hesitant, Peter answered:
«Most likely, everything is a little not so banal, brother. You seem to be very lucky and, if you didn’t have this thing, you would probably be forgotten, but now… everything can go very differently. By the way, I think it might have eavesdropped on us, so just in case…»
He walked over to the sideboard and took out the food foil from the drawer.
«What are you going to do?» Lera asked.
Smiling, Peter winked conspiratorially, tore off a fairly large piece of foil and, having made a multi-layer bag out of it, carefully wrapped a cylinder in it and answered:
«Screen, sis. Simple but effective.»
«Screen?» The younger sister was surprised.
«It is not so easy for a radio signal to penetrate several layers of foil,» Andrey answered with the tone of an expert.
«Ah,» the girl nodded in understanding.
«Let’s go,» said Peter, rising from a comfortable makeshift chair. «We’ll just make it to the wasteland.»
Chapter 4
Kanny arrived in the territory in a borrowed private plane, It looked like a private retreat specially made for this. When he got out, a luxurious black BMW X6 was already waiting for him, it drove right up to the side of the plane.
«Konstantin Nikolayevich?» the driver asked him, not leaving the BMW, but only lowering the glass halfway.
«Yes, that’s