Cherry Blossom Snow

Covert Operations

Six year-old Dolores emerged from the hatch of her hidden lair with a sense of cautious purpose. The sandy terrain stretched out before her, a harsh and unforgiving landscape. She couldn't afford to be careless; her sword and pistol remained at her side, ready for any potential threats. Closing the hatch behind her, she meticulously covered it with sand, erasing any trace of her presence. Her trench coat, despite its internal cooling system, was stifling in the heat, but she knew it was a necessary shield against the relentless desert sun and the ever-present environmental challenges. Plus, it offered valuable camouflage in this arid wasteland where cover was scarce. With each step, the coat's hem brushed the ground, obscuring her boot prints. Avoiding detection was paramount, so she would have to rely on her memory to find her way back.

A kilometer away, she crested a hill and arrived at a concealed artificial cave, the hidden sanctuary for her armored vehicle. It resembled a fortified mobile home, a testament to her resourcefulness, constructed from parts she salvaged from a battlefield. The strategic positioning of this vehicle underscored her foresight, ensuring that discovery of one would not necessarily lead to the other.

Stepping inside, Dolores shed her coat and turned on a fan. She had short black hair and light brown skin. With a flick of a switch, the control panel illuminated, activating lights and an air cooler. She peered into a mirror, her gaze fixed on the patch concealing her left eye, a grim reminder of the shrapnel embedded there. It looked infected, and the penicillin supply had been compromised. The need for antibiotics weighed heavily on her, along with the knowledge that, sooner or later, she'd require a surgeon.

She wasn't sure if the vehicle was ready for a field test, as the nuclear reactor would need to function perfectly. After the tedious process of extracting and refining uranium from ore, she initially planned to enrich the small amounts of fissile uranium-235, before evaluating that it would be more practical and efficient to instead convert the far more plentiful uranium-238 into fissile plutonium-239 through neutron bombardment. The reactor was already filled with heavy water. All she had to do was insert the plutonium rod and turn it on. She estimated she had about a 50% chance that it would work. Those were acceptable odds to her, but she was quite concerned about what would happen if it failed, as that had a wide range of potential results. It might not work at all, or it could kill her, almost instantly or very slowly.

Methodically, she conducted a series of safety checks, her heart pounding as she initiated the reactor. Everything appeared to be in working order, but the tension lingered. It was time to embark on her mission, with three distinct objectives in mind. First, the testing of her armored vehicle's capabilities; second, the establishment of a coastal outpost for monitoring military movements gathering in the Gulf of Mexico; and third, the pursuit of any clues regarding the whereabouts of her friend, Xiùlán, who had been missing for three weeks. Food and antibiotics were secondary concerns, though not to be dismissed.

It was the summer of 3945. Xiùlán Chao, her steadfast companion over the past two years, had become her sole consistent presence. A separation of such duration as this was uncharted territory, testing her resilience. Uncertainty clouded Xiùlán's fate, yet Dolores clung to the hope of their reunion. The rugged landscape promised an arduous journey. However, if everything went according to plan, she would be flying most of the way.

The roar of the jet engines reverberated through the vehicle as it lifted off the ground. The initial ascent was a bit bumpy, causing Dolores to tighten her grip on the controls. But as the vehicle gained altitude, the turbulent motions stabilized. Xiùlán was supposed to be the pilot, and Dolores was uncomfortable about filling the role, but she had no choice. However, what she lacked in driving or piloting ability, she made up for with her skill in computer programming. The autopilot system she had painstakingly developed could handle the bulk of the work, affording her the freedom to operate the scanners in her relentless search for Xiùlán.