Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2001 13:17:46 -0600 From: bluemagic8888@juno.com Subject: Better to have loved and lost... Chapter I Writer: Iain McGregor Date: 11-24-01 Chapter: I Copyright: 2001 Iain McGregor, any distribution or use without the author's permission is strictly prohibited and punishable by law. Legalese: If you are over 18 and/or it is legal to view material of this nature in your community please continue. If you are under 18 and going to anyway I can't stop you but I take no responsibility for your actions. MESSAGE: This is my first story so go easy on me. I would like to hear from anyone. Please no flames. If you like it tell me or I won't continue. If any one out there has more time than I do and I don't have a lot and would consider being my editor I would appreciate it! **************************************************************************** Better to have loved and Lost... Chp. 1 - The Blast He walked calmly into work that morning never realizing that just below his feet it had begun. The slow leak into the reactor. The graphite was beginning the temperature hike that would send his life into the most abysmal chaos, to heaven and back again. He checked in past the five security levels before running to catch the elevator down to his office. " Good Morning Comrade " a familiar voice whispered at him. He whipped around and embraced the man into a bear hug that was at once intimate and authoritative. His mouth moved slowly down to the luscious pillows of lips that awaited him on the downward plunge. DING! He shot straight up and resumed a pose of superiority and composure. The soft chuckling behind him alerted him to the fact that once again he had instinctually gone to command pose when the elevator was just moving down to the bottom floor again. " Kevin, you did it again! " His friend could not stifle his laughter. " I know you find it funny, but it is necessary in order to keep from being discovered, unless you want to be caught and interrogated! " He turned and looked at the man who had captured his heart. The average height of about 5'6, big burly muscles, raven black hair, and deep brown eyes. He was built like a battering ram, and o how that description fitted him so well. The laughter was slowly drawing to a close as the elevator descended the last few floors to the bottom of the complex. " You know as well as I that no one wants to be caught much less interrogated, but who's to suspect the manager of the great Chernobyl and some lowly safety maintenance drudge of the government?" " The government that's who!" he grumbled. " Dammit U why can't you accept the fact that the government watches everyone and the only reason we can even be together is the fact that I have such a high ranking job and they overlook me because of my family!" " There you go again all high and mighty because, YOU, have such a great family standing, and YOU have such a great job, and YOU are the head of the greatest nuclear facility in all of the Mother Land! YOU, YOU, YOU!!" and with that the man stormed out of the elevator and left behind a shocked and stunned manager/ lover. As he stormed by and swiped his security clearance card he thought to himself, dammit why does he have to say that this whole relationship is about him! It takes two people to have a relationship, that is more than a man and his hand! If only he would understand that I want to be with him and only him, not his money, family, or career. Selfish Bastard! He slinked off to the lounge to join the rest of his co-workers. Meanwhile Kevin walked dejectedly off the elevator and onto the promenade of the lower level. He walked past the armed security guards in their uniforms and swiped his security clearance card. The guards saluted smartly and he briefly returned the gesture. He walked into his office and sat down in the harsh wooden chair that accompanied his solid wood desk. He sat as if he had just dropped into the chair instead of actually deciding to sit down. He was slumped over the desk holding his head in his hands slowly massaging his temples when a man walked into his office unbeknownst to him. " I don't need this, this early in the morning" he mumbled to no one in particular. " Don't need what?" a tall brusque man said in badly accented Russian. " You, of course " " What me? I did nothing to you yet." He sighed. " Always the joker Kevin. You know you should really change your name to something more patriotic. Like Vladimir or something not so American" he fairly spat out. " You know as well as I that I refuse to change my name because my mother gave it to me and it was her last request that I not change it. So leave it the hell alone P'tok!" he discharged the words with an over abundance of vehemence. " Your loyalties should lie to the country and not to some dead woman " " That dead woman as you so mistakenly call her was my mother you son a donkey's whore so shut your mouth and fuck off!" with that the man walked out of the office as a tremble shook the floor. " what in the name of God... FUCK!" Kevin dashed out of his office after glancing at his warning screen to see a red Cyrillic symbol flashing rapidly on the screen. Sirens started to wail and red lights started to rotate repeatedly. There was dead silence from the people in the compound before a great howl of terror ripped out of the chests of everyone present as the realization of what was happening dawned on them. A dispassionate female voice stated " Three minutes to meltdown. Core temperature rising past safety level. Three Minutes to meltdown..." The voice calmly spoke the words that everyone knew meant the end of their existence if something didn't happen quickly. Kevin started shouting orders to any one present. Another deep rumble shook the complex, this one was louder and harder than the previous. This one however was accompanied by a loud hiss that was growing louder by the second. The voice again stated the obvious. " Core breeched, Core breeched. Temperature is exceeding maximum capacity. " A few minutes earlier down at the safety lounge Yuri walked over to a seat and dropped into it. No one particularly noticed. Safety regulators were expendable and easy to train so it was very unlikely that anyone would have time to get to know someone before they were transferred to another facility, as this was the main training facility. A small tremor shook the floor knocking over some cups and breakfast liquids. " All right, everyone to your stations!" yelled the Chief inspector. The man was very short and stocky and never spoke in anything but a roar. This call was not unusual because most of the inspectors were new and no one had a truly defined schedule to follow. They all picked up their things and walked over to whatever station they were posted at for that morning. Yuri walked over to his usual monitoring station, number 8. He joined his partner as they always worked in teams. " Good morning " his partner said. In an unusually cheerful mood. This man was one of the most dour and droll people Yuri knew. If he was so happy, only one thing could have happened. " So what time was it?" " How did you know?" " Only one thing could make you this happy on a Friday morning." " He was born at two twenty seven this morning. He's beautiful but it's another mouth to feed. Your lucky you have no one but yourself to feed" " Maybe if you and Anna stopped your rumping in the evenings you wouldn't have so many mouths to feed. Besides it is unlikely that I will ever have kids." " So what was the argument about this time. I can see it written all over your face. You had the First big argument didn't you. Wait wait let me guess, hmm, money or status? Which was it?" " How do you know me so well?" " My friend I have known you since we were six, if I couldn't read you by now I am no kind of friend. And which was it?" " Both actually. She wants to be more discreet because of her family " " My friend you have got to stop dating the rich bitches, they only cause trouble. Look at me and anna, we are both the same class and we are very happy, something uncommon these days." Yuri thought to himself, if you only knew Vlad, if you only knew. We may have been friends since we were six but with another mouth to feed I've no doubt you would sell me out in an instant if I told you who I was really with. Not that I'd blame you. " A rare thing indeed friend, rare indeed..." Before he could finish his sentence the whole room shook and he could hear things crashing to the floor. Shattering glass and the sound of expletives filled the room. A deep groaning from beneath the floor sounded and fear jumped into everyone's hearts. This was the moment they were trained for. " OhmyGod!!! The temperature is rising fast!! Someone has got to do something the pressure is building up! EVACUATE!!" Hysteria ensued. The workers ran as fast as their legs could carry them out of the room towards the stairwells. Only Yuri, Vlad, and the Chief stayed in the room. One of the men on the way out sounded the evacuation alarm. " Chief the controls are broken, someone has to release the pressure manually, Section B6!" Vlad yelled to be heard over the din in the room. " I've got it!" yelled Yuri. B6 was over by Kev's office and he could check on him and fix the problem at the same time. " I'll go with you!" Vlad shouted back at him. Meanwhile the chief had conveniently left the vicinity. Ran like the coward he was Vlad thought. " No, you've got Anna and the Kids get out of here, I'll do it, now go!" With that they both promptly left the room and headed off in opposite directions, one towards the oncoming catastrophe and the other to the safety of the outside. All though safety was a relative term. Another Huge tremble shook the floor and the concrete cracked and a large steam pipe blew open sending hot gas and metal shards everywhere. He screamed as the steam charred his skin right off of his bones in some areas. His eyes were burnt and he could barely see straight. Where is Kevin he wondered. I have to keep going. The valves must be turned on to release the pressure or, he didn't want to think what would happen. Yuri kept on running down the corridor towards the elevator. Another explosion and he was tossed through the air into a wall. He smacked up against the wall and felt several sickening crunches in the vicinity of his rib cage. Kevin saw Yuri fly through the air and hit the wall by his office. He could hear the crunches and feared the worst. All of a sudden the fight they had earlier seemed so stupid and inconsequential. He ran to where Yuri had been but he was no longer there. A large blood stain was all that remained of him. He saw a trail of blood leading over to the area behind his office where several important valves were located. " Yuri!" Kevin ran over to the valve shafts in time to see Yuri climbing out of it. He looked like a mess. Grease and Blood mixed together with peeling flesh served to make Kevin gasp. Yuri was half covered in steam burns so bad that the flesh had either been incinerated or was so burned it just was peeling off in strips. He had several puncture wounds near his abdomen were he had about 3 compound fractures. His ribs were visible in odd places they just stuck out. " Get away. Stay away Kevin. God dammit do as I say! The reactor is going to blow, there is no way to stop it now get out while you still can! With that he just collapsed onto the concrete floor. His breath seemed to just wheeze out, he didn't draw any air in only out. His lung must have been punctured for he just couldn't seem to bring any air into him. The memories flashed through Kevin's mind; the wonderful vacation to the southern Baltic, the skinny dipping on the beach at midnight, The first time they met at the little coffee shop and the first night they made love, it all passed through his mind and he knew he would never feel the love again. He knew that of all the things he had and all the things he had done nothing was going to bring Yuri, U, back to him. He would never feel the loving embrace, never hear the soft laugh again, never see him again. The thoughts caused him to stop breathing, to take a sharp intake of breath and never wanting to breath again. "NOOO!!" Kevin screamed as he ran towards his Love but was stopped by a rough yank on his shirt. He spun around ready to pummel whoever stopped him but was promptly yanked off the ground and carried to the stairwell. He glanced back towards Yuri and saw the wall explode with the pipes behind it. Yuri was engulfed in rubble and scalding water. He did not even utter a sound at his demise. The only visible part of him was his arm sticking out from under a broken slab of concrete. It was charred and the bones were visible in some places. The smell of scorched and burned skin had since faded from Kevin's olfactory nerves. The world was spinning and he felt like he was flying out of the complex. The darkness that he craved, the utter oblivion of unfeeling washed over him and engulfed him. He accepted it's sweet embrace. He wished in his deepest of souls that he would never wake again, for he could not stand the idea of a life without Yuri, his love. The drive to stay alive against all odds intended to prevail and so it fought with Kevin's heart and mind in a last desperate struggle to save his life.