This post may contain Mildly Adult content.
Mildly AdultRandom
Only logged in members can reply and interact with the post.
Join SimilarWorlds for FREE »

The Basement Diaries 26

[b]Kyiv - 18 January 2023[/b]

What can I tell you about today? A lot, and so little.

I was at the bunker at about 07:00, arriving just before Andriy. Team leader elect. We got coffee from the mess, took it to my office. I went through the induction schedule with him, told him what I had in mind. Also, that the team now knew that he was taking over from 18:00 Friday, when I step down. No weekend leave for him.

By 08:00, the team was all in place. I swapped two guys off night duty so that they could be here all day. I formally introduced Senior Lieutenant Andriy as their new team leader to be. Salutes and handshakes all around. Friendly but professional. He told them a little of his own background. Asked some relevant questions, without probing too much. I thought he was good.

A little after 08:30, while we were still blocking out the work for the day, news came through of a helicopter crash at Brovary. It is about 20km east of Kyiv. Then news that Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi had been killed in the crash, along with his First Deputy Minister and the First Secretary of the Ministry. A big loss of senior government personnel.

We later learned that a total of fourteen people were killed, including some on the ground, it appears.

As the story emerged, some witnesses claimed to have seen flames from the helicopter while it was still in the air. None of this has so far been confirmed. There is a lot of speculation about the cause, but helicopters do crash. A thorough enquiry is under way.

Credit to the team, they absorbed this news, took a breath, and got on with their day. This is war, we lose comrades, we lose superiors, sometimes even leaders. But we march on.

My CO cancelled his morning meeting.

My next task was to take Andriy through the White Files, the sensitive material about our more clandestine (is that the word?) operations. He had the good grace to smile at one or two of the stories he had already heard about in the media, to realise their origin and purpose. Now he knows the standard he will have to keep up with the team. And, I hope, excel.

The afternoon and early evening he spent working with the team members individually, mostly with the lead creative and hacker. They are good and i hope he keeps them, but it is up to him how he organises the team in future.

I stood the team down at 19:00, with orders to report by 08:00 tomorrow. Again, I had cancelled their late duties.

Andriy and I spent half an hour in the mess, over coffee and sandwiches. Then another hour in my office, reviewing the day. It had been positive, on both sides. I think he is looking forward to the task, I am happy I am leaving the team in good hands. Finally I gave him a quick tour of the facilities, introduced him to my rack. He was amused by the name and its origin. I did not share the source. He said he would claim it for himself and use it probably more than I did, as his present location is almost an hour to drive from the bunker.

I did not mention that there would soon be an empty cell in the basement.

We said goodnight and I went to take a shower before heading home. Only to find that someone had forgotten to remember not to forget to make sure that the hot water system was topped up. A fucked up end to a day of good and really bad.

And so, without a shower, I made my way home to the basement. Still home, for a few days yet.

Coffee. Change. Coffee. Joined the others but I am still pissed off about the shower. There had better be a very good reason for no hot water, or someone will get an almighty rocket in the morning.

How pathetic is that! People dying all around and I am upset about a shower.

I'll get over it, in time.

Chatted with the others. All more than a bit pissed off about the Brovary crash, it's a town we have all been to or through in better times. Monastyrskyi is a loss to the government, a personal loss to Zelensky.

We had some more of Sofiia's soup/stew, which managed to be both the same as and different from last night. And then we drifted off to our respective cells. Another day done.
This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »
sarabee1995 · 26-30, F
Sorry about the shower. You know I value mine as well. Nothing wrong with being irritated by that. More than likely some of your irritation at the cold water was actually sourced about 20km to your east. Upset can come out in the oddest ways sometimes.

Clandestine or classified... Both would work. 👍

Lol, didn't share the source of the "rack" nomenclature? You should've hinted that you had a source formerly with the US Navy! 🤣🤣🤣
Yulianna · 22-25, F
@sarabee1995 🇺🇦❤️🇺🇸 yes, i have come to rely on those showers... not wise in these times. i didn't blow up at anyone today, but i did have an extra long shower to make up for it.

😂 if i mention [quote]a source formerly with the US Navy[/quote] i might well be faced with the question, "and where is he now?" 😂
sarabee1995 · 26-30, F
@Yulianna Just tell them that [b][u]SHE[/u][/b] is moving on to bigger and better things, but remains a close personal contact. 🙂
Yulianna · 22-25, F
@sarabee1995 🇺🇦❤🇺🇸 for sure 😂😂😂

but the army owns me now, might think it owns my contacts, too...
sarabee1995 · 26-30, F
@Yulianna Well yes... My social media contacts, browser search histories, and more things than I can list here are all subject to review. 🤷‍♀️