18 Floors Above the Apocalypse novel Chapter 514

Hearing Ivans' question, Stella shook her head and said, "I'm used to my freedom; I don't want to live a restricted life. Maybe one day I'll get tired of the Arctic and head somewhere else."

Ivans clenched his teeth, "The base has a plane on the warship, but they won't agree to let it go."

"If you're willing to help, I'll find a way to save your leg."

"You're sure you can save my leg?"

Stella didn’t make any promises she couldn’t keep. "Medical procedures come with risks; I can't guarantee it one hundred percent, but you know me, Ivans. You know what kind of person I am."

After a long silence, Ivans said, "I want to meet the pilot."

Stella called Peter to come inside while she waited outside the igloo.

Ivans sized up Peter. "Is your base big?"

"Massive. It'll be a city for hundreds of thousands. Right now, they're working on land reclamation."

Ivans was familiar with the concept, akin to the myth of Sisyphus forever pushing his rock, only in this age, it was about building islands from the sea.

"Aussies are lucky survivors, cast adrift to the far Arctic, yet their nation sends a rescue team."

He couldn't help but feel envious, mixing hope with desire, "Does my country have a base?"

Peter spoke diplomatically, "We have one, China has one, and your country is militarily strong, and your people are united. I'm sure you'll have one too."

Ivans informed him of the fighter jet model on the warship. "Can you fly it?"

Peter's eyes lit up. "I can."

The model wasn't the latest, but the Eastern Air Force had trained them on it before the catastrophe struck.

A decade may have passed, but with a touch of the controls, he was confident he could soar into the sky.

Ivans couldn't make promises but said he'd try to negotiate.

Worried that Peter alone wouldn't be persuasive enough, he asked Stella to come along. "Ginger, I need you."

Stella hesitated but agreed.

Jasper wanted to accompany her, but she refused, fearing for his safety.

With Arcadia at her side, Stella could escape danger, while Jasper would guard the home base. "Don't worry, Ivans is counting on me to fix his leg; he shouldn't play any tricks."

She was confident in her decision.

Jasper reminded her, "Be careful."

They revved their snowmobiles and headed towards Union Base with Stella and Peter riding through the biting cold.

After over an hour, they safely arrived at the base.

The Russians lived on the warship, while transport vessels and other ships had been converted into planting zones, with many survivors braving the cold winds to work.

In a short time, a small group of fewer than a hundred had swelled to over four hundred, their ambition growing by the day.

"How is it giving away for nothing?" Ivans argued, seeing the captain's expression soften, "We give them a jet to send their pilot back with news. They bring their warship, take all the Aussies home, and we eliminate a huge threat. Once the Aussies are gone, who in the Arctic can stand against us? We sacrifice one jet and get rid of hundreds of Australians. It's a no-brainer."

The Russians listened and couldn't help but agree.

The captain pondered for a moment, his stance softening, "And Ginger and Jasper? They go too?"

Ivans had to be honest, "They'll stay."

"No way," Grove bellowed, "We'll give the Aussies the plane, but Ginger and Jasper must go. They can't stay in the Arctic."

Others quickly agreed.

Without evidence, but convinced in their hearts that the two were linked to Union Base's downfall, they had only refrained from acting out of caution.

Ivans felt a tightness in his chest, his voice dripping with frustration, "We've been pretty clear with our probing. If it really was them, and they had the ambition, they could have taken over the base right then and there. But they didn't!"

The group was stubborn as mules, insisting that they would only release the airplane if Stella and Jasper agreed to leave.

"Fine, then keep your damn plane," Ivans retorted, his temper flaring. "Let's just play the waiting game, shall we? Keep poking and prodding until we tick them off. Then, with a snap of their fingers, they'll join forces with the survivors from Down Under and wipe us out!"

Keep playing this game until it's game over for us.

The captain, always the voice of reason, interjected coolly, "Ivans, do you have a better idea?"

"No," Ivans snapped back, still fuming. "Give them the plane. Let the Aussie base evacuate all the survivors first. If Stella and Jasper decide to stay, then if a fight does break out later, wouldn't they be much easier to handle?"