Ganglands: Russia: Russia by Ross Kemp Page B

down his rucksack and peeled off his combat jacket, which was now drenched in a combination of sweat and snowmelt.As he took a couple of deep swigsfrom a water bottle, he was aware of Nadia closing her laptop down and rising from her chair.
    ‘Not bad,’ she said, with a faint smile.
    ‘Thanks very much,’ Alexei panted.‘I didn’t see you down there.’
    Nadia pulled a face.‘It’s bad enough that Viktor makes me come and watch, without having to swim through freezing water in a dingy basement myself.Anyway, the Moscow Eagles don’t let women take part in their army training.’
    ‘But they don’t mind you posting their videos of their “army training” afterwards,’ Alexei shot back, rather more sharply than he had intended.
    A shadow crossed Nadia’s face; but before she could reply Viktor appeared at her shoulder.The blonde girl shrank away, returning to her chair and opening her laptop without another word.
    ‘Well then, my young troublemaker!’ Viktor declared expansively, leading him away from the rest of the gang.‘How did you find that?’
    ‘OK,’ Alexei replied cautiously.‘I was glad to get out of that basement.’
    Viktor smiled, gracefully inclining his head.‘All in all, it was a most impressive display for a first time.But being a soldier is about more than fitness, Alexei.An army does not jog to victory.It fights; it kills.’ He leaned in close, and whispered in Alexei’s ear.‘When the call to arms sounds, do you think you could press the trigger?’
    Goose-pimples broke out across Alexei’s skin like bushfire. ‘I don’t – I don’t know,’ he faltered.
    Viktor reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out a black semi-automatic pistol.He pressed the weapon into Alexei’s hand.‘Only one way to find out,’ he said quietly.

14. Burn Unit
    The Eagles’ shouts of exertion faded into the background as Alexei stared at the gun.
    ‘What do you want me to do with this?’ he asked quietly.
    ‘I want you to fire it at Pavel.’
    Alexei looked over at the ex-soldier, who was watching the last of the gang complete the course with a look of disdain on his face.Unlike the rest of them, who were spreadeagled out across the concrete, exhausted, there was barely a bead of sweat on Pavel’s forehead.
    ‘I don’t understand,’ Alexei said.
    Viktor’s face was solemn.‘What is there to understand?Are you questioning a direct order?’
    ‘No … I’m not questioning …’ stuttered Alexei.‘I just … Why do you want me to kill Pavel?’
    Viktor gazed at him levelly through his horn-rimmed spectacles, then suddenly erupted into mocking laughter.‘Fear not, my young soldier,’ he laughed.‘White Russia will not regain its pre-eminence by turning on its own.I don’t want you to kill Pavel – but I do want you to shoot at him.’
    At the sound of his name, the wiry man walked overtowards them.Viktor tossed him the weapon.‘Reassure our skittish young friend that this gun isn’t going to kill anyone.’
    ‘Frightened of this?’ Pavel said scornfully. ‘It’s a child’s toy.’
    Taking aim at one of the large water bottles by the edge of the roof, he fired off several rounds almost negligently.Viktor waited until Pavel had emptied the chamber, then walked over and picked up the bottle, tipping it to one side.Water trickled out through small holes in the plastic where the pellets had penetrated the bottle.Pavel may have dismissed the gas-powered gun as a child’s toy, thought Alexei, but getting hit was still going to hurt.
    Viktor waited until the Eagles had caught their breath and collected themselves into a circle, then proclaimed in a ringing voice: ‘Today is an auspicious day indeed, my brothers!To celebrate his entrance into the brotherhood of the 88s, Alexei has agreed to take on Pavel in a duel!’
    Amid a murmur of excitement among the skinheads, Nadia gave Alexei a nervous look that did nothing to reassure him.As the entire gang headed down