<\/p>\n
November 27, 1962; Chernivtsi, USSR<\/span><\/p>\n Intermittently falling water droplets echo across a hangar three stories underground. A flip of a switch lights up a set of incandescent fixtures, which provides barely enough light to illuminate the room. Three of the walls are lined with cabinets used for holding spare parts, fuel, and anything else that the maintenance workers may need. The fourth wall is covered with a floor-to-ceiling wallpaper of the Cyrillic letters \u201c\u0411 \u0410 \u0421 \u0423 \u041a\u201d (<\/span>English: BASSOOK<\/span><\/i>), which form the acronym of an ancient secret organization to whom the hangar belongs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the center of the hangar sits an aircraft that only such an organization would be capable of producing. Its patched-up fuselage hints at a long past, which is a stark contrast to the powerful thrusters that appear to be from decades in the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A pilot, navigator, and flight engineer greet the aircraft and head to their respective seats. As the aircrew adjusts the seats in the blueish-green cockpit to their liking, another pilot enters the flight deck. Since BASSOOK has been unable to train enough crew to cope with the increased demand, the second pilot is a person who goes by \u201cK.\u201d He is a tall man of Ukrainian ethnicity, who has been serving as BASSOOK\u2019s General Oversight Director for almost as long as the position has existed. K squeezes into the copilot seat and pats the back of Captain Marvin Greene, a middle aged Englishman who has been flying for BASSOOK ever since his retirement from the RAF.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGood to see you again, Marvin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Captain Greene is too focused on the preflight checklist to respond to his higher-up.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHow\u2019s she doing?\u201d K asks Yeva Stepanovna, the newbie flight engineer.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCould be better,\u201d she says, taking her eyes off of the gauges that have been refusing to spool up. \u201cHalf our engines don\u2019t work. How does anyone deal with this shi-\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHey, hey,\u201d interjects the captain. \u201cAt least the other half still works!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGotta love some optimism,\u201d says K, starting to work on his portion of the checklist.<\/span><\/p>\n As the flight crew gets to the final stages of preparations, a plethora of footsteps can be heard behind the cockpit, as today\u2019s group of passengers board. When the commotion settles down, K picks up the intercom and informs the passengers that the aircraft is ready. Captain Greene gestures \u201cgoodbye\u201d to a service worker on the ground, who runs to the wall and moves a lever. The ceiling folds out of the way and a hydraulic elevator pushes the aircraft to the surface, where it emerges in a conveniently empty storage building of a factory that is providing cover for BASSOOK\u2019s primary base.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The crew taxis the aircraft onto a concrete apron, during which time the aircraft\u2019s invisibility cloak is activated. At the scheduled time of 02:00, Captain Greene picks up the intercom to make a mandated takeoff announcement to the occupants.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHello, and good morning, my fellow members of BASSOOK. All parameters are adequate, we are clear to proceed with takeoff. Barring any inconvenience, we will arrive in Havana at 01:30. Also, we have reports of turbulent weather, so don\u2019t get up unless absolutely needed. Enjoy your flight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n With that, the aircraft begrudgingly leaves the ground using all the power that its vertical thrust jets can muster. Having gained enough altitude, Captain Greene activates the main engines to get the aircraft up to its supersonic cruising speed. Thankfully, the turbojets cooperate with the pilot\u2019s input and the craft is soon blazing over the North Atlantic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A little over five and a half hours later, the flight\u2019s destination comes into view. As per BASSOOK regulation, Captain Greene got on the intercom once more to make the landing announcement.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFlight deck to cabin. Please prepare for landing in five minutes. Local time is 01:33.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0When the aircraft exits the cloud cover and the ground grows closer, the situation in the once lively capital becomes clear. Through the infrared imagery coming from the aircraft\u2019s night vision system, the crew could make out only a few intact buildings. The only lights come from the makeshift headquarters that the American army had built to forward their operations.<\/span><\/p>\n But for the crew, this is not a new site. Ever since the Cuban Missile Crisis first broke out into full on nuclear war, BASSOOK has been painstakingly trying various changes to the historic flow of time, aiming for a timeline where the conflict stays cold. Time and time again, its efforts have failed. There is always a catalyst to set off World War III, be it an disproportionate response to a provocation or mistranslation of a diplomat\u2019s message. Everyone hopes that the next attempt will be different, but after years of altering minor historical details, that hope has been drying up.<\/span><\/p>\n As the aircraft lands, its landing gear suspension lets out a sigh. The hatches open and a group of around forty armed people stumbles out. The first thirty or so are from BASSOOK\u2019s Primary Response & Insurgency Suppression Militia (PRISM). The only colorful thing about them is the rainbow-patterned PRISM patch they have on their chest. Their expressions have been dulled from seeing Cuba\u00a0 repeatedly leveled and their uniforms have definitely seen better days since coming out of an army\u2019s surplus inventory. The last seven to deboard are from SPECTRUM: the Special Purpose Elite Counter-Threat & Reconnaissance Ubiquitous Militia of BASSOOK. Unlike the PRISM members who are lucky to get a full uniform and a rifle that isn\u2019t decades older than them, those who have volunteered to be part of SPECTRUM are prepared for any form of combat. They are entrusted to use BASSOOK\u2019s most powerful hand-held weapon: the Anomalizer.<\/span><\/p>\n Together with K and the other flight crew, the armed groups make their way to the hidden access port that leads to BASSOOK\u2019s Havana site. Under the cover of a moonless cloudy night, they sneak into the base, entering its maze of passageways, which have been serving as BASSOOK\u2019s hub in the Caribbean since the early colonial days. By the time their eyes have adjusted to the faint red battery-powered lights, they could see that their reinforcement mission had come a little too late. At first, they walk through puddles of emptied rifle casings and see that most of the walls are covered in soot, with a couple posted signs still hanging by a few pushpins. Then they come across the first body: a young Red Army soldier, slumped by his Kalashnikov rifle. A few turns later, and the first signs of BASSOOK casualties are evident. The group is solemnly quiet as the dread of seeing dead comrades isn\u2019t numbed by any amount of timeline repeats. Strangely, many of the bodies have been stripped of their equipment, and not a single American uniform is in sight.<\/span><\/p>\n After what feels like an eternity in a horror show, the team reaches a set of massive lead doors that are the site\u2019s last defense against radiation. K forces the door open and the team is met with all that is left of the Havana site\u2019s personnel. A few dozen BASSOOK members huddle in the dark room, accompanied only by the three surviving members of a small detachment of Soviet soldiers that BASSOOK has enlisted as a temporary protection team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThank goodness you are here!\u201d says Site Manager Filipp Nikolaev, running up to greet K. \u201cOur power went out, so we had no comms, and barely any foo-\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI know,\u201d K says. \u201cTell me how we did this time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Filipp takes a hesitant pause before quietly saying, \u201cThree hundred forty million since the first strike\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n K lets out a long sigh, before speaking, struggling to not let out his anger on Mr. Nikolaev. \u201cPlease tell me why the fuck is it more than last time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTh-they stormed our site, sir. We couldn\u2019t stop them this time. Not even the army could. They saw our arsenal and all hell broke loose. There\u2019s never been this big of a missile barrage before. We had to save ourselves, sir. Please understand, sir.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d replies K.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut sir, if I may, even the city of Havana fell. Believe me, we put up a fight. Just look at how little of us are left. I even ordered SPECTRUM to scare them with the Anomalizers.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI commend that, Filipp,\u201d says K. \u201cIf you did anything less than that, we\u2019d be in serious trouble. For records\u2019 sake, you recovered the weapons, right?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo, sir. We assumed SPECTRUM dusted whoever decided not to heed our warning. Though they may have been lost in action doing so. Why do you ask? We can send a task forc-\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHold that thought,\u201d says K. He storms out of the gathering room and shuts the door. Thirty seconds later, he returns.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBack to where we were, Filipp. You are lucky there\u2019s no one left to replace you, because if anyone else butchered a response bad enough to lose Anomalizers, they\u2019d be gone immediately. You had one job. Now our secrecy is blown and there\u2019s only a matter of time till they find our other sites. We can\u2019t keep trying to prevent this war if we\u2019re caught in the crossfire!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI agree, K. Can\u2019t we just move BASSOOK to a timeline without our site getting attacked? Like the last one?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd show to whatever else is out there that we can\u2019t even stop an infraplanetary war? Remember, we\u2019ve made a timeline without the Great War, Filipp. We didn\u2019t give up then, and we won\u2019t give up now. I don\u2019t care if this is the last great thing that BASSOOK does, but I won\u2019t allow us to persist in a timeline where we have American and Soviet blood on our hands. Not to mention the millions we would otherwise leave for dead.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cUnderstood, sir. I\u2019ll revise our site\u2019s contingency plans right away. I won\u2019t let a breach happen again, sir,\u201d saysMr. Nikolaev.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGood,\u201d said K.<\/span><\/p>\n K and Mr. Nikolaev salute each other as a polite measure to end a stressful conversation. K turns to address the survivors and the reinforcement group, who have been awkwardly waiting for orders the whole time.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAlright comrades. Let\u2019s bring the wounded over to Site \u2018Friendship\u2019. The Northeast was hit pretty hard, so be mindful of lingering fallout when we get there. Those who can still walk, please pack up as many important assets as you can and wait for us at the landing field.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n A few reluctant grunts can be heard, yet the members oblige, since they know that staying in Havana would lead to their eventual demise. While they get to work, K takes the leader of the SPECTRUM unit aside to detail the final phase of the mission.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCommander Moreau?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYes sir,\u201d replies Renard Moreau, a veteran SPECTRUM combatant.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOnce everyone else leaves, have your team load the bodies into the Vezdekhod (<\/span>all terrain vehicle)<\/span><\/i>. Take them down to Holguin, we\u2019ll have another plane waiting for you before dawn,\u201d K says somberly.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOf course, K,\u201d answers Commander Moreau.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd I\u2019ll need a volunteer to help me with preparing the \u2018heat treatment\u2019. The others can give cover to those loading the cargo. If anything poses a threat, you know what to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cRoger that,\u201d says Commander Moreau.<\/span><\/p>\n Within a few minutes, the reinforcement team had efficiently cleaned up the site. K and the volunteer are the last to exit the underground compound. A match is dropped into the fuse leading out of the access port and a fire bursts into life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n K climbs into the cockpit of the aircraft once again, where the crew have already prepared the craft for takeoff. All the hatches are closed and the trip to BASSOOK\u2019s Mid-Atlantic site begins. The burning base creates a stunning view for the passengers, almost like a phoenix getting ready to live its next life. As the aircraft re-enters the clouds, K is already deep in thought of what the next timeline alteration will be. The task ahead is daunting, but it\u2019s nothing that BASSOOK can\u2019t handle.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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