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***

In Moscow, I got a hotel. Lazarev offered me a ride with him, in a limo, but I responded by inviting him to my place. In a tank. After laughing, the two of us climbed into the tank, the president in the gunner's seat. He put on the virtual reality goggles, too, aghast, and started twirling his head around. He took the gun control panel in his hands and accidentally pressed the trigger.

I will probably never hear such a lot of swearing from the Minister of Defence again. Lazarev was also dumbfounded, and then pounced on me with reproaches:

- Why did you come to Moscow on a tank, and even with a gun?

- Calm down, - I raised my glasses, - all the shells here are blanks.

- Well..." he laughed nervously, "but don't use a tank in the city again.

- All right, I promise. It's a pity, at least they always give way to me and don't cut me off.

We still had to leave by car, and the President and I parted ways. Lazarev offered me to draw up a plan of action, and in response I gave him a ready document of a couple of hundred pages, which described and economically justified the further implementation of the plan. He took the document, apparently, to show it to some of his people.

The final "Storm in a Glass" plan outlined, with the help of Bersi, Ares and the Director, a further comprehensive war against the Western world, along with a weakening of the flow of Arab oil. The plan was divided by the Iskins into four main phases. It described the construction of a number of factories, the creation and modernisation of the most sophisticated of military equipment - fighters, bombers, attack aircraft, attack helicopters, all-purpose landing craft and precision missiles. And that means giant shipyards capable of building a full-fledged aircraft carrier. The aircraft carrier won't lose its importance for a very long time. I've heard that the americans are even developing a big flying aircraft carrier. A terrifying nonsense, created only by the collective unconscious, as it is the aircraft carrier that has become entrenched in the subconscious of Americans as the ideal weapon of the "good guys". In reality, its vulnerability will be monstrous - a trillion dollars thrown in the bin from one missile hitting the turbine, or one virus that will intercept the control of the reactor and give them a mixture of Hiroshima and Chernobyl.

The three stages of the plan are as simple as three rubles. The first one is to produce more drilling equipment, refineries producing more oil products, increase oil production to the maximum, build key enterprises of aviation and navy, as well as machine building. The second stage is personnel issues. Personnel issues of the army, personnel issues of industry - institutes, universities, army schools and training schools. The third stage is war. But everything is clear here. There were more than two dozen variants of the beginning of the war alone. There was also, theoretically, a fourth stage - the winding down of the operation. When the Americans realise they've been had, they'll react. The country would not hold on to the Middle East, so if there was a possibility of war with America, it would retreat. But there were so many options, it's a phantom phase.

* * *

The hotel room I was put in was cosy. Yes, I, as a visitor, had proudly declined Lazarev's and Zotov's invitations and decided to stay in the hotel for the time being.

A polite and helpful maid took me to my room, and in half an hour, while I was lying on the bed and trying to arrange a million thoughts swarming in my head, the maid came. She brought the dinner I'd ordered when I checked in. A big plate of buckwheat, in which there were as many pieces of pork as porridge, Ukrainian borscht, a bottle of unfiltered Belgian beer and half a litre of mineral water. For one of the best hotels in Russia, this is a very atypical order, but it was fulfilled quickly.

* * *

- Nonsense! Nonsense! - Arseny Semyonovich was indignant, - projection!

- Arseny Semyonovich, nevertheless, I ask you to take your work seriously. I have very good reasons to consider the material of the plan as a realistic version of the development of events, - said Lazarev politely.

- Realistic? Are you laughing? What will the UN do to us if we set up bases in India?

The President sighed tiredly. It was already midnight, and it was absolutely unpleasant for him to argue with the head of the Centre for Strategic Analysis. But still...

- All right. Tell me, how did the UN react to the deployment of American bases in Iraq?

- What's your point?

- Because, dummy head, if we keep huddling in the corner, we're gonna get spit on. Don't you get it? I'll give the same speech as the American president - about peace, democracy, defence against terrorists, about brave Russian guys and dirty terrorists....

- They're gonna take a negative view of it. Everybody. That's why I say projectionism.

- I don't give a shit! - Lazarev interrupted him, - listen to me, Senya, either you give me a realistic plan, how we can reach the indicators of influence and economy of the level of the eighty-fifth year by the sixteenth year, or I accept this plan. I don't have another one, - the president spread his hands.

- Good, good, don't boil..., and now think - where will we get the money to create factories? It's a sea of money...

- Not so much. It was suggested by a fairly competent person in the matter of industry.

Arsenius only sighed sadly. The plan given to him was like the ravings of a stoned patriot, it did not take into account a lot of things.

Lazarev, on the other hand, felt dislike for his former ardent supporter - this man, although he tried to explain his point of view to him, was looking too far into the mouths of all the powerful countries of the West....

- Here's the deal, Senya. If we show strength, they'll shut up. They will already try to depose me and put their protege who will continue the process of destruction of the country, I will lose their support in any case. They'll latch on to some little thing and start slinging mud at me like I'm the world's evil.

* * *

It was a beautiful morning. I ate a lot last night, slept until my bones ached, the sun was shining in the morning, spring was in full swing. Good thing I had everything with me in my space pocket. There was a wardrobe, I dressed up better, went downstairs and was about to leave Moscow, when suddenly, one could say, suddenly, the phone rang.

- Hello?

- Hyarty, it's me, Zotov...

- Yes, good morning, Comrade Minister.

- There's no such thing as a good morning.

- You don't say! Yesterday I ate, slept, dressed up, and today the sun is shining....

- A happy man. Well, why am I calling? The President consulted me and I've been getting calls all morning. From the FSB, from analysts, from Urals industrialists...

- What's the Gebnya got to do with it? - I wondered.

- Do you think," the minister chuckled, "that you've driven round Moscow in an unknown tank and can go on your way?

- What's wrong with that? You won't buy a tank? No, you won't. Do you have to disclose the specifications? No, you don't. So tell all those who are interested "No comment". Let them make up their own convenient versions, conjectures, theories, various conspiracy theorists love this business. It doesn't concern me, I'll take the tank, I guess. Or let it stay at your ministry for the time being, so to speak, to finally put a shadow on the wicker and to inflame paranoia in the probable enemy.

- That's exactly what we're doing, by the way. The tank has been covered with a tarpaulin, but journalists have been standing near the fence since early morning. And the rest - as they say - the initiator beats the initiated....

I thought about it. There was a similar saying among the Xandarians. But just what it means. I stepped out of the stream of people and stood near some shawarma stand.

- Listen, keep it simple, I'm not from around here.

- Oh, I forgot. Okay, listen, Lazarev wants to make you in charge of this plan, or rather, part of it. You already signed up to work for the government, he wants you to have a mountain of responsibilities and areas to keep under constant review. Can you handle it?

- What kind of things?

- Let's just say someone has to be in charge of the plan. An administrator. There will be specialists working in each area, reporting to their ministries and departments, but all of them separately, they will go to the woods, who will go to the woods, who will go to the woods. It is necessary to find a ready person, an administrator, who could keep personal control over projects, monitor the fulfilment of orders, targets, motivate specialists ...

- You know, like a manager.

- Yes.

* * *

To summarise the conversation, my plan was dumped on me. At the same time, I had to constantly travel to the enterprises, to carry out modernisation, to monitor the production of the equipment required for the Plan. Of course, the military themselves organise enhanced training of Marines and Airborne Forces, but....

First - the first point of my plan - the creation of a powerful air force. Both technically and in terms of supplies. I returned to the moon, where I began to tinker with the iskines. The director prepared a list of enterprises, a plan for their modernisation and estimated output figures. It was necessary to make a spiral and go back to the scheme with consolidation of production capacities. That is, consolidating them into one area, from hundreds of different large and small supplier enterprises.

The Abstergo-Avia plant started to be built two months ago, when I decided to start slowly getting into the aviation life. Now this project has been given top priority and first priority equipment. Started erecting aircraft buildings, good thing they were, albeit very large, simple boathouses.

I sat down in my chair, checking everything I had so far.

- Don't worry, Hyarty, I'll help you in any way I can.

- I'm not worried," I sighed, "I'm afraid we might not make it.

- We will. Though sometimes we'll have to adjust our plans, I can predict that now.

- That's true, Director, but... so many different enterprises... I don't even know where to start....

- I suggest we start by giving all the heads of the enterprises and active participants smartphones with encrypted communication. We need to protect the secrets of our project. Then - without initiating them into the main secret, smoothly lead them in the right direction. Now I have already analysed the personal files of the project participants. We need to lead in five main directions. This is the core of the aviation industry - the enterprise "Abstergo-Avia", Russia's own aircraft factories, as well as the construction of shipyards capable of manufacturing large ships.

- You named three points...

- I mentioned aircraft factories as one point. I would suggest that all aircraft manufacturing facilities be brought together in the city of Lipetsk. Given the cheap transport capacity, I don't see the point in dispersing the plants. The city is located far enough from Moscow and the state border....

* * *

March.

* * *

What kind of weapons will partisans, Wahhabis, fanatics and other mursiks from the east need? Firearms. Simple, cheap and effective. The ideal is a Kalash. It's powerful, cheap and suitable for uneducated Arabs.

In addition to my responsibilities as Assistant to the President for Information Technology, I also oversee the PLAN. In a month I haven't made a single call, visited anyone, or even left the moon base, except for the one and only time I got a call from UVZ. The director was already in the midst of a large series of Uralbots, modernising production facilities. Industrial robots are a super-profitable business. For me, a Uralbot costs two thousand dollars, but it is sold for ten, and that is to prevent a collapse in the market. The Uralbots were supplied only to state enterprises, so it also protected the market. Higher class, standard robots were sold at a price competitive with that of world manufacturers.

The organisation of Abstergo-Avia, a full-cycle aircraft manufacturing company, was in full swing. Runways, airfield maintenance, working hangars... The director was using all the robot labourers I'd brought with me from Xandar, not trusting the top-secret enterprise to anyone. Making connections at the same time. I've been keeping an eye on it and we've had an interesting conversation:

- Director, what's the limit for the Abstergo Aviation plant?

- What do you have?

- Based on the future capabilities of the plant, what complexity of machinery will it be able to create?

The director thought for a second:

- A level about fifty to one hundred years ahead of the current one.

- So we'll be able to build a state-of-the-art aircraft?

- The plan is to use the factory to produce planes keeping at the forefront of progress, but not too revolutionary. We'll need either additional droids from Xandar or about 200 people to work directly in the factory.

- All right, I'll take care of the droids. What's the point of building an aircraft that's less technically advanced than the factory can produce?

- The point is that they will be produced much faster, and aviation will stay at the forefront for many years, rather than throwing one good project on the market and then resting on its laurels.

- Okay, okay," I raised my hands, "I'll need transport aircraft to deliver cargo to Arabia and India. And I'll need an arms factory to make weapons for the Indians. Do you have any ideas?

- Aviation will be there, but the weapons factory... if we divert some of our goods from the target consumer - state enterprises, to the creation of a new factory, we'll blow the deadlines for lathes and robots of luxury class. Besides, it is possible to create a factory in secret, but is it necessary?

- It is necessary, - I confidently answered, - now the main thing is to make aviation as soon as possible. And after that, right away, we will create a secret weapons factory. Maybe even on the moon.

* * *

- This is not a April Fool's joke," Dmitry Sergeevich warned me over the phone.

- All right. Tell Comrade Lazarev that I'll take care of it, but he must understand that investing in India is not what I want....

- He understands, but someone has to do it. As you have probably realised, we can't do it from our side - we are officials....

- Neither am I.

- You are semi-official, - waved away Dmitry Sergeyevich Lisitsyn, Prime Minister, - as an assistant to a deputy ...

- That doesn't say anything to me. Well, the hell with it. By the way, Dmitri Sergeyevich, I'll be starting the zero stage in three days...

- Which one? And this isn't a phone call.

- If you're talking through that smartphone I made for the government - it doesn't matter, it has encryption that Shield and CIA couldn't even dream of, and it transmits data through my satellites. Phase zero," I continued, "is the public warm-up, the secret one. I've set up a weapons factory somewhere deep in Siberia. The work is carried out in an atmosphere of deep secrecy. Thanks to the simplicity and uniformity of the products, I managed to achieve a good rate of production. Weapons, ammunition ...

Dmitri Sergeevich thought, hummed, then asked:

- How will it get on the spot under the condition of deep secrecy?

- It will. It is necessary to conduct reconnaissance, to find out who among wild tribes and Islamic radicals will use such a cargo for its intended purpose....

- The GRU has all the information you need, if you ask for it, they'll send it to you...

- Okay, thanks for the advice.

- You got everything?

- Yes, everything.

* * *

Ekaterinburg's monorail had seven stations. Seven hub stations, the main transport artery through the city. Here, at the stations, minibuses started to cluster, even had to drive them away. Particularly insolent and poorly understanding people were tasered when they got into a fight. There were no more people willing to get involved. The main monorail station was freed from taxi drivers - the mayor's order was already in force here.

The monorail was put into operation in the middle of March, and by the middle of April the transport started to take the first passengers. Since the tickets were considerably cheaper than a minibus fare - only ten rubles, the introduction of the monorail hit the pockets of local carriers. There were even arson attempts. The bodies of the arsonists were found in the forest, devoured by wolves, and not immediately, but there were no more attempts.

The inhabitants of the town could not get used to the train travelling high above the roads, though everything gradually returned to normal. The initial peak of passengers quickly subsided - by mid-April the number of passengers had already decreased considerably. Cheap, simple and efficient rolling stock and time-tested mechanics made the trains quite cheap to operate, and the monorail operated twenty-four hours a day. The only difference was that the interval between trains during rush hour was two minutes, during the rest of the day - eight minutes, and from eleven p.m. to six a.m. - thirty minutes. The stations were well-maintained - it was always warm inside, cleaners were working, additional stylishness of the road was given by lighting - the whole monorail was softly illuminated with LEDs, in some cases - additional street lighting was attached to poles.

The carriages had thirty sitting and twenty standing seats, plus the train had ten carriages - enough so that one did not have to wait more than six minutes for boarding. The almost silent trains did not disturb the residents, and certainly not the roads and already established communications. However, the owner of the monorail, Hjarti, did not even pay attention to the launch of his brainchild. He did pay attention, but he was not particularly happy about it, he had a lot of other worries, including electric transport. Hyarty, in his laboratory, was engaged in the creation of an electric lorry for the city. He had already decided to make Ekaterinburg his capital, so he decided to start integrating technology into the lives of the citizens. The first houses with almost free electricity, in the absence of gas and hot water - the houses were nicknamed "Grelka" by the people, because inside they were usually warmer than in a normal house.

Transport was a lorry. Hjarti walked around the base, back and forth and alternately calculating something, looking back at his prototype. The prototype was a six-tonne, four-axle lorry, with a standard body and a bonnet layout - two traction engines and several batteries were located in the bonnet.

Behind the driver's cab, which was very comfortable, there were also batteries. Here Hjarti had done his best - a huge compartment, a tonne of energy cells. It was enough for two days of continuous driving at full load, but on condition that the heater would not work. The heater did eat up some power, quite a lot of it. The car was charged from a special socket. Hjarti could equip all his monorail stations with such sockets, making them battery recharging points.

Electric transport was recognised as efficient, but first Hjarti wanted to replace the heaviest engines - lorries and buses. It was these that emitted the most exhaust fumes into the atmosphere.

Director Abstergo, a rather famous billionaire and philanthropist, organised the negotiations himself. They talked for a long time, about four hours - large managers of chain shops, as well as representatives of the city transport fleet came to him for negotiations. Hjarti did not want to sell the secret technique, so the essence of the debate came down to the offer of transport services. Two hundred electric buses, plus one hundred electric trucks, with almost free fuel - electricity, and much more reliable and durable mechanisms ... Of course, they did not believe him, but not wanting to waste time, Hyarty convinced his interlocutors in the usefulness of his services. Reducing fuel and maintenance costs would more than compensate for the cost of renting electric vehicles. The idea was that he would build charging stations at major transport hubs in the city and rent out electric vehicles. He would not provide drivers, but all electricity and maintenance would be charged to him, Hjarti. The sum was calculated not without analysing the clients' expenses. The annual profit of the Ekaterinburg transport fleet was about fifteen million roubles, with total costs of one hundred and seventy-seven million and revenues of one hundred and ninety-two million. Salaries to drivers and maintenance, petrol and electricity... the annual profit was only enough to buy one bus. Abstergo Transport offered them option number two - two hundred electric buses, fully compliant with all standards. The result of the debate satisfied everyone - Abstergo-transport took over the technical provision of intracity passenger transport, but on condition that the mark-up on the ticket would be calculated on the basis of the cost of operating the transport and would not exceed one hundred per cent.

Hjarti even accompanied all his interlocutors by showing them the electric buses and electric trucks lined up in a straight line in front of his company's building. Having inspected everything, especially the buses, the contractors were satisfied. And in the middle of April Ekaterinburg was shocked by the news - all, absolutely all the buses were sold out, and a ten-year contract with Abstergo-Transport was signed instead. The reduction in atmospheric emissions was tangible, but still far from ideal. Citizens were much more favourably disposed to the news that it now cost almost half as much to travel across the city - even though the surcharge remained double. In addition, there were fifty more buses, so they ran more often, softer, quieter, cheaper.

The situation with lorries was no worse - every morning Abstergo-transport lorries wheeled around the city, delivering food to the shops. Yekaterinburg's mayoral rating broke all records, both city and federal. With Hjarti's support, the mayor turned out to be quite honest, intelligent, and with a well-functioning head. They spent a few days together, as well as going to a barbecue together once. And so, at the end of April, when the snow finally melted, the Abstergo-aviation company delivered its first aircraft. And it was not something there, it was a plane - a great jumble of stampings, castings, hydraulics, electrics and electronics, as well as two traction jet engines. The SU-25 was almost identical to the standard, except for the cockpit design and the less fanciful engines. The cockpit was more elaborate, taking into account technological progress, of course. The cockpit canopy was more bullet resistant, and the pilot's armoured capsule was also heavier than usual.

And the Great Stamping of Aircraft began. The SU-25 was followed by a very seriously redesigned version of the SU-34, which would be more correct not to be called by the name of its ancestor. Firstly, it was much bigger, almost one and a half times bigger than the SU-34, with similar LTH - due to additional fuel tanks. More advanced guidance system, engines that do not require a generator to start, more advanced navigation and targeting equipment, avionics in general was brought entirely to the software level. In the cockpit, except for the monitors and the pilots' helmet interface, there was only a power switch, catapult handle, emergency ammunition dump button, compass and control stick. Everything else was only through the computer.

The bomber began to be produced, and on average two bombers a week came out of the gates of the Abstergo-Avia enterprise, unlike ordinary bombers, they were painted in coal-black colour, so that they would not glare at night.

Under the name SU-34-ABS the aircraft was offered to the Ministry of Defence. They took eight machines for testing and have not yet given an answer..., and in the meantime, the aircraft factory, still working on half of the imported components from other enterprises, continued to work on the bombers "ABS". There were dozens of bombers of this class in service with the Air Force, and large deliveries had never been made.

Flight tests of the unprecedented aircraft lasted for a month, at the behest of the President - the aircraft was under intense scrutiny. Test samples were flown day, night, in bad weather, even used samples of weapons, as well as the training of pilots. Test pilots have never known such a heavy schedule in their entire careers. The aircraft successfully passed all tests and, although the design had many elements that did not comply with GOSTs, it was hastily adopted for service.

* * *

- Hello? - I picked up the phone.

- Good morning. Where have you been? - Zotov asked cheerfully.

- Why? No, it doesn't matter. What happened?

- Nothing happened. I was asked to make a deal with you about your aeroplane. I must admit, you've done a lot of screwing around in our SU-34... where did you get the blueprints of the dryer?

- They were in the corner, - I waved them away, - the aircraft, as you understand, is needed strictly for our business with you. Since I'm in charge of the PLAN, I'll ask you to find an aviation unit, relocate the planes there and start training the personnel. Fuel and engines are not to be spared, I will bring new ones on demand. I'm responsible for the performance of the equipment, but the human factor is quite possible. That's why it's better to train the pilots, and train them well.

- I haven't asked you how you got a new bomber.

- So far, it's been made almost entirely on screwdrivers. The further it goes, the greater the rate of production. And if you mean the project, I just slightly enlarged the Su-34 by recalculating all the aerodynamics and adding two three-tonne fuel tanks. With modern computers, it's a matter of a day. The engines were slightly redesigned...

The Minister of Defence sighed sadly and clarified the situation:

- Now, it is difficult to solve this issue right away. After all, you can not just take and relocate the aircraft to the airbase, you need to train people, down to the last detail.

- Comrade Minister, the aircraft comes with quite clear technological charts and instructions for all occasions. In many respects they are identical to those for the SU-34, only I have changed some things. The spare parts, if you mean them, will be delivered on site. Additional engines too, by the way, unlike the native ones, in this aircraft the engines can be changed right on the airfield, in one day... what else have I not mentioned?

- Everything, Hjarti, every last detail. But where am I going to transfer them to?

- Anywhere. Do I give birth to pilots? - I was surprised, - is there still those who can hold the steering wheel of a bomber, or have they all been expelled? By the way, let's not touch the issue of the price of the aircraft, however, it is not small.

- And why is all this somehow under the table?

- Because where, how and why I produce aeroplanes is a secret, a very important secret. The less paperwork and other official documents that appear here, the better. That's what I've decided, as the man in charge of the plan. Take the aeroplanes.

- All right, all right, take them to Lipetsk. We'll sort it out there...

I hung up. The matter was resolved, successfully. However, having dumped the matter on the Director, I didn't stay at the base for a second longer. All my activity was reduced to three main directions - Ekaterinburg improvement, PLAN and commerce. And I tried to alternate my time in order not to leave any of these points without attention. Now commerce is already working well enough without my participation - industrial robots, goods of various purposes, but invariably of high quality - all this leaves Ekaterinburg in echelons, constantly. And the money comes back to me.

Money from the sale of my software has become no less important. For example, one hundred and forty-two different applications were released for smartphones, of which three dozen were very advanced games that became very popular, especially in the West. The games were quite expensive, but firstly, it was extremely difficult to create a pirated copy, and secondly, it was extremely difficult to run them anywhere but on my smartphone. That's why they bought, only so they bought. Now, as of mid-April, the total number of smartphones released has passed one million. Now smartphone revenues have become quite tiny against the rest of the revenue streams. On average, taking into account all production costs and expenses, taxes, my fortune has increased by twenty-two billion. That's pretty good, and I'm ahead of the curve in terms of growth. And these billions - without taking into account the cost of maintaining the business, although, admittedly, they include the cost of their own production means. In fact, I produced them much cheaper and sold them to myself at a high price, but these fixed assets were on the company's balance sheet. For example, I took Abstergo-Transport, produced two thousand industrial robots and about five thousand more unique mechanisms and machines, and the robots and machines were on the balance sheet of the company at their nominal value, not at cost price. In total, in cash, I had about four billion dollars, which was regularly spent on projects, but the money kept coming in again.

* * *

It was hot in the desert. Blatantly hot, but my combat suit saved the day. The aerospider, with the cargo container inside it, dropped gently to the sand near the town of Saada in Yemen. For now, I just looked around. I looked up into the sky - sixteen red dots were visible far away. It's Ares showing me the drones that are circling above me like vultures. Drones They were flying in different directions, and half a minute later I got a message from Ares:

- We've detected a cluster of people.

- Range, bearing?

- Transmitted the data to your watch. Four pickups with machine guns, two lorries, nine men inside one with guns, including the driver.

- Is that them?

- They're coming this way. By the looks of it, it's them.

- Keep monitoring the area for ambushes. And keep one drone above me, just in case.

- Copy that.

The speeder dropped its cargo - four sand-coloured containers - and then simply vanished into thin air. Invisible. I walked over to the cargo and took off, sitting on top of the container, surveying the Islamists approaching me. Good thing my translator could translate our speech. And the suit I was wearing was almost without a hint of unusual, though an armoured suit is unusual in itself.

The group approached, right across the sand, coming almost right up to us. People armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles got out of their bodies and even pointed their weapons at me, but the commander cooled them down. I recognised the commander at once - in military uniform, waistcoat, with a cigarette in his teeth, beard up to his belly and turban, or as it is called here... he got out of the pickup and came closer to me:

- Salam Alaikum, my friend, is that you who called me?

- Yes," I jumped down from the top of the container without taking off my helmet, "I am. I don't show my face, sorry. My job involves a lot of danger. I have a lucrative offer.

- That's usually what you say when you're trying to sell something.

- No, I don't need money, I'm just in the humanitarian aid business," I grinned, but it didn't show under the mask, "and I've decided to help you.

A group called the Liberation Army are desperate scumbags. They haven't attacked me yet, which is a good thing.

- How can I help you? - he asked.

I turned round and pulled open the container door. Inside, sand-coloured wooden boxes were stacked flat on the shelves. I pulled one out and unpacked it. Inside lay stacked in rows of Emgach machine guns. No numbers, no everything.

- Ammunition, guns, money, what else can you do to help the fighting men? Except a kind word. There's twenty million dollars, four hundred machine guns, a thousand German machine guns and five hundred thousand rounds of ammunition. And fifty RPG-7 grenade launchers and shells. In that container over there, - I waved my hand, - unloading waistcoats for soldiers, shoes and field kits with medicines. If you need anything, you can contact me.

The commander looked at the machine gun in surprise:

- German MG?

- That's a wonderful machine gun, isn't it? It's fast and light, and it's pretty reliable. What else can I do for you?

- We could use some transport," he began to pursue his lips, "but why are you helping us?

- I told you," I smiled slyly again without anyone noticing, "humanitarian aid. Isn't it humane to defend yourself and your ideals? I won't ask for anything in return, except what you're already doing and what you're going to do.

The leader glared at me for half a minute, then waved his hand and ordered the men to unload the cargo from the containers. I handed him several suitcases personally. In one were dollars in various denominations, in the other euros, also in various denominations.

The operation to contact Islamic terrorists was a success. After all this I was even invited to dinner, but I politely declined and left towards the sunset, after which, having disappeared from their sight, I flew upwards.

* * *

The first package has been delivered. Now the Liberation Army will begin to gain strength. The second parcel is ready right after it - more artillery, and mostly mortars of 82 and 120 millimetre calibre. The Arabs like such mortars, because they have a decent rate of fire, and the fact that the projectile's high-explosive effect is weak... so who cares? The main thing is that it's artillery, at least what kind of artillery it is. Hundred and twenty-millimetre shells, that's power.

Besides, my factory made a car for the first time. An ordinary car was even indecently easy for him to produce.

We met again a fortnight later, in May. I sent the commander the data on my whereabouts. More people had arrived this time, and they were obviously happy with their lives.

- Salam Alaikum! - the commander greeted me like a native, - I am glad to see you again, and so soon.

- Did my last parcel come in handy? I can see it did.

The soldiers were still armed with the same AKs, but the youngest ones had G3s and a few with machine guns.

This time we met thirty kilometres from the city, at dawn - the sun was still just rising and it was extremely cold. I was sitting on a container, on top of it. There were two dozen containers.

- It came in handy. Even the containers themselves were in use. That's a lot of cargo today. We can't take that much.

- Yes, you will. I listened to your request and found you some cars. American Humvees and French PVPs. And a hundred mortars, half portable, half towed. And enough mines to start a war.

- With such weapons we will not be afraid of the shaitan! - laughed the leader, - do we need to start a war?

- No, not yet. You are too few in number and my supplies are fickle. I cannot supply you always, but if you use them wisely, you can build up a real army that can support itself.

- And where will we find the money for that?

- I'm prepared to buy oil from you. It's simple. You take over an oil field and sell the oil pumped out of it. The oil is shipped in tankers to a tanker waiting for you on shore. However, illegally extracted oil is half the price of regular oil.

The ringleader looked at his accomplice. Thought about it for a while:

- I agree, it will bring a lot of money. But we can't break the resistance of our enemies so easily.

- That's why I'll help you, - he licked under his helmet, - it was another consignment of weapons. But before we go to war, we must prepare for it. So far you are not too worried about the Yemeni authorities - be careful, recruit supporters, set up camps to train your soldiers. I can give you enough weapons and ammunition for the war and I will try to get you something more serious than machine guns and grenade launchers. Tanks, guns, trucks and armoured personnel carriers. You will have everything you need ...

The leader was listening:

- We have camps.

- Expand them and prepare them for defence. We'll need camouflaged artillery, machine guns, air defence. I've thought of that too, and I'll do what I can.

* * *

The Army of Liberation grew and grew, gaining supporters in Yemen and throughout Arabia and even Africa. My calculation was simple: you drive a wedge with a wedge. The Americans wanted hand terrorists - well, I will have my own hand terrorists, worse than the American ones.

Having finished with them, I continued to work on improving my capital, Ekaterinburg. Historically, Russia has a capital Russia and a peripheral Russia. The capital is Moscow and St. Petersburg, the periphery is everything else. It is a rigid system in which it is quite difficult to be a person from the periphery.

As a result of the robotisation of my production facilities, I have noticed an increase in the number of service personnel. The staff/production ratio began to shift towards the latter, but the overall increase in shafts meant that Abstergo already had over thirty thousand personnel and their numbers were growing like a yeast. Shipyards were being built, new railway lines were being constructed - a circular railway, a second branch of the monorail was being built, this time a circular railway that ran around the current city boundary. In addition, economic development touched the city itself. The mayor listened to me, if not in everything, he listened to me. Of course he did - one of the richest men in Russia and a presidential aide is a bigger figure in his city than the governor. Governors come and go, but I am there.

The changes affected the city almost imperceptibly. People from the region began to flock in, they had something to build - almost seventy new buildings were being constructed in Ekaterinburg. The improvement of life in the city, the inflow of money, led to the fact that Ekaterinburg was being transformed. There was even talk of reopening the shops of the metallurgical plant, although this idea was a dead end.

The streets were decorated with new street lamps in spring, the roads were repaired - now they were made of reinforced concrete. Concrete roads started to be developed in February, and in March they finished manufacturing the equipment, now they started to make the roadbed. On the Director's advice, all the old five-storey buildings were restyled - communications were overhauled, the facade was changed to a warmer one. In fact, these are concrete carved overlays, which turned unsightly panel and brick boxes into an architectural masterpiece. The style also changed from district to district - somewhere it is just vignettes, turrets above the roof, in the style of eighteenth-nineteenth century houses, Empire, somewhere - high-tech - squares, corners, painted in different colours, which divide the house into "cubes" of windows, somewhere - in the style of modern new buildings. Designers of new buildings were also involved in the architectural restyling plan. Censorship on the quality of work, harmoniousness of the architecture of the city, has become much more strict.

Together with the new houses there were also new bus stops Ural-Steil, i.e. mostly consisting of metal stainless frame and translucent plastic. Money transfer terminals were placed right at the bus stops, and banks became more active in the city centre - there were many more ATMs.

The architects proposed a project to replace all pedestrian zones with tiles, bicycle lanes and special areas for recreation. In the end, after receiving a slap on the wrist, they quickly scrapped the projects for bicycle lanes and recreation areas, and only tiles remained. But its design changed from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and corresponded to the design of houses, both already restyled and planned. For example, Ordzhonikidzevsky district - there are a lot of nine- to twelve-storey houses, many of them of rather boring Soviet design. This neighbourhood is high-tech. Houses - painted with special enamel, street lamps, bins, benches, rubbish bins, bus stops - all in hi-tech style. The lanterns were steel poles with a cap on which powerful LEDs shone. The diodes were products of the former optical-mechanical plant, the poles were from Uralmash. The urns in the form of squares and cubes, also very complicated, but heavy - you can't steal such urns without a lorry. They are also poured into concrete foundations. Benches too.

Closer to the centre, the five-storey buildings had already been partially restyled - there was Empire, the nineteenth century, carved vignettes, black street lamps with gas lamps, along with the lamps there were cast urns in the style of the nineteenth century, benches with iron vignettes and plastic seats that looked like wood. In fact, there are a lot more places to sit. Here the paving tiles were carved, as much in the spirit of the time as possible. At first you even got the impression that you were in Jules Verne's Roma.

The rest of the style varied from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, but was not that comprehensive and specific. Except for one neighbourhood, the southwestern woodland. It was planned to enclose the forest with a high fence, to equip it with wide pavements, with squares, to build here a full-fledged recreation zone with cafes and restaurants, to put outdoor heaters on the pavements - they allowed to raise the temperature by ten to fifteen degrees above the street temperature. And the abundance of forests around protects from the wind. The project was a big one, costing a billion roubles. And labourers from all over the province were brought in to work on it. It was easy to get a job - you came to the office, the next day the salary was already coming and you had to go to work. So far, they were cutting paths in the forest, using heavy machinery to build pavements. It was decided to make the park in the style of medieval romanticism. In the centre of the park it was supposed to build a real romantic castle like Disneyland castle with turrets, loopholes and a fortress wall.

Projects, projects, just projects. At the current exchange rate of forty roubles to the dollar, a billion roubles is twenty-five million dollars. A manageable sum for me. The city resembled a big construction site - the influx of money from foreign buyers led to an economic and demographic boom. The number of migrants had decreased many times over - only Russians were hired to work even as janitors. The policy of national development - there is no need to hire any Turks, if there are plenty of Vaneks in the hinterland.

Through the sale of high-tech goods, money began to flow into the city. The service sector began to develop especially strongly. Large shopping centres, even in the plans, had already displaced single market traders. Six KFC restaurants and two Starbucks coffee shops were built in the city. According to the Director's interim analysis, the population has risen from one and a half to two million, the number of unemployed has risen to eight per cent, up from five per cent last year, but this is more because many are supported by their husbands and children. Although half a million more people came to the city, the number of workers doubled compared to last year - they came from villages, hamlets, small towns, to work. And many wanted to settle here. Having sensed that the housing market had gone up sharply in price, the developers became active, and very much so. It was still winter, and in March, forty new housing estates were laid out on the outskirts of Ekaterinburg, for newcomers.

And I haven't mentioned the plans to complete the Yamburg metro - to build a ring line around the city, which would firmly unite the city and its agglomeration.

On the whole, I was satisfied. This spring I walked around the city and could not be happy. There were more and more people, electric buses were travelling around the city more and more often, thanks to the low price. I talked to the residents - the mood was optimistic. The city is developing, as if a second life had been breathed into it. Against this backdrop, the mayor's popularity grew like on yeast. Abstergo also got its share of fame - the company triangle was on the buses, the monorail and all my products, which now account for ninety per cent of the city's gross product. The Europeans have already appreciated it, and the Americans too - it was at their level that I got in.

And so, on the thirtieth of April, a meeting was held. In the "White House" - the house of the government. There was a separate conference room. I was invited and needed no introduction. The heads of large enterprises came, mostly people I already knew and various people from the administration. Each of them prepared a report on their activities. They started with the local chief physician - the owner of hospital ducks. It turns out that the hospitals need overhaul, as well as new premises. There is not enough space for everyone, due to the rapid development of the city. The mayor promised to solve the problem and looked at me:

- Hjarti, what do you think about it?

- We should build a large medical centre and modernise the clinics. I'll be able to supply you with some medicines once the pharmaceutical production facilities at Abstergo Medical are up and running, and we're already producing surgical and diagnostic equipment, so I won't be rusty. As for the renovations, that's up to you. My advice would be to build a large medical centre from scratch. As I said, I will provide the equipment.

The head doctor nodded contentedly:

- That's a good option. There is still a question about the quality of service. The current staff is insufficient, we need employees of various profiles. So the budget means...

The mayor looked at me, but I only grinned:

- I won't give you any money. You look for it yourself.

- I didn't ask for it.

- But I thought. No, you already have a surplus of a couple of billion this year, despite all the programmes and the development of the city. So don't be greedy, it's a big deal.

* * * *

- And at the end I would like to say that the president is coming to visit us, - the young mayor surprised all present, - he will arrive in two months, he will be here for two days. So we should prepare the city more intensively.

- Hey, stop! - I stopped him, - don't be so harsh. If we rush, we'll only mess things up. We've got everything on the books.

- What do you suggest? - The mayor suddenly asked, "Show him an unsightly construction site?

- Why a construction site? We can show what we have already done and emphasise what we are still doing. Lazarev is a smart man, he'll understand. Moreover, I will ask him to postpone his visit to early autumn, when the leaves will turn yellow and the central architectural district and the forest park zone with the castle will be ready. By the way, we will be building the castle this summer, it was decided to place there a children's and youth cinema, a restaurant, toy shops and four children's hotel rooms in towers. A child's dream.

Those present looked at each other.

- So, - the city prosecutor suddenly raised his voice, - when will he come?

- He promised in July, - the mayor shrugged his shoulders.

- I will ask to postpone the visit to the first of September. Especially since the opening of the children's park will be timed to coincide with that date.

The prosecutor looked at us with a frown, then turned his gaze to the mayor:

- Our officers should renew their fleet of patrol cars. I'm not satisfied with the current situation, the city is so big, and VAZs with blinkers are driving around the city. Of course, this is not exactly my diocese, but I represent the Interior Ministry here.

I got into the conversation by answering ahead of the mayor:

- I'm offering the same terms as the state transport company. I can sell you or lease you electric cars. They are structurally much simpler than conventional cars - no clutch, no gearbox, no transmission... plus two thousand kilometres of range at sixty kilometres per hour and a full load.

The prosecutor's confused:

- Wait, how much do they cost?

- Lease is ten thousand a month, including fuel and maintenance. Buying one is five and a half million.

- Expensive... although rent is cheap.

- I told you, they're much simpler. The service life of an electric car is at least thirty years, maintenance is much cheaper, electricity too - on average you spend about one ruble per hundred kilometres of travel, or even less. Pennies. Plus I can equip your vehicles with selective armouring, special equipment, special strength frame. The only downside is the need to charge them for two hours every day, but I don't think that's a problem. I'll run a charging station to the car park.

- Good. (chuckles) An electric car is a good thing. What about design?

- Whatever you want. I'd suggest we divide them into classes - light, medium and heavy. Lightweight for speedy cars like sports cars, medium for full-size saloons and heavy for massive, well-travelled cars. And it will also be necessary to organise patrolling of public places - squares, the future park, places where people gather....

- I don't see a problem with that," the prosecutor waved his hands.

- But I do. The forest park is a recreational area, and a patrol there will be no good or bad for the city. The same in other places - a police car won't be driving in the middle of a crowd, will it? Moreover, patrolmen will not move on their own two wheels all the time, will they? Therefore, if you wish, I can work on the project of a light electric scooter as an analogue of the mounted police.

- If you present the project, we will consider it, so far the state transport company has had no complaints about your company. We'll see!

* * *

It was decided to shift all efforts to the city centre. I went to the base, contacted Bersih and told him what I wanted to do. Three minutes later, I was presented with three cars. Speedy - looks like all the cool cars at the same time, but without the sharp individual features. Sedan - looks like a Bentley Continental, only the shapes are a little different, but still - it feels like a VIP-machine. And all-terrain - looks like a mix of a Rover and a BMW parker.

- What is it?

- I've combined various successful design elements. It's a simple design. We can only build them if we utilise Abstergo Aviation's facilities, one electric vehicle factory won't do it.

- Whatever. Engage, the main thing is that I should have samples in a week....