[The Blue Sphere] III – Cardinal

[Merovingian 656]

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead or re-spawned, or actual events is purely coincidental.
 

Read next part here.
 
Previously on TBS:

I - The Notebooks

 

II - Cimarron Vs. Troika: Viktor (Shadowstar) is part of an online video game clan named Cimarron, led by his best friend Killian (Drako123). On the eve of his 18th birthday, his mother gifted him a passport, so he could travel across Europe during summer holidays with his clan mates. 

Meanwhile, a group of people part of a mysterious group, known as the Troika Organisation, is after Kurt’s blue notebook. They assumed that the document will end up in his son’s hands, Viktor. They aspired to recover it, so they could accomplish their greedy aspirations. 

 
 

III – CARDINAL

 
Brest, France – June 1999
“Finally, the school’s exams are over!” thought Vik while enjoying the sweet taste of the summer holiday, with an early sunny breakfast composed of hot chocolate, baguettes' slices spread with salted butter (as they like it in this area of France) and strawberry jam.
 
The teenager is too excited, he cannot sleep or stay in place, as his friends are arriving tomorrow for the first week of their planned holiday together. Four of Vik’s friends are due to arrive at his house: Killian, Leoni, Nik and Alex. The latter is a newbie which was recruited shortly after Tobias was kicked out for yet another burst of anger ending in a fight with the rest of the team. As Tobias left the team in bad term, he decided to decline the European trip with the Cimarron clan.
 
Unfortunately, another member could not do the trip, Jaspal (BlackMamba), who lives in India. He had to stay home to help his father managing his business which is particularly busy during this time of the year. The reduction by two travelers is mitigated by a new addition to the group, Alex, a player recruited from the solo league tournament. He was thoroughly tested by the team members and proved to be a clever tactician in any close-combat situations, in both attack and defence position. With such a multi-purpose skilled player, enthusiastic and full of pep, Cimarron has recruited a key asset. However, solo fighters exhibit some struggle to work within a team and they require an adaptation period to express their full potential. 
 
In the middle of the morning, Vik’s dreary wait is disrupted by a peculiar call from a man with a strong accent. The caller introduces himself as a lawyer from a German Lawyer firm (Skele & Tor) based in Dusseldorf. The lawyer wishes to arrange a face to face encounter with him for a matter of great importance and requests utmost secrecy about this matter until they meet. The young boy agrees to meet the man in a public place downtown, in six days from now. This event increases his level of excitement for the rest of the day, but it is not enough to distract his thoughts from the imminence of his friends’ arrival.
 
The next day, at long last, his friends start to arrive one after the other. Killian first. Obviously, living close by, and being the clan leader, he has to be here first. With his dark hair and his sturdy glasses, he looks more like a nerd than a leader, but don’t be fooled; his sense of organisation and leadership acumen is top notch, and none of his plan could go wrong, even the unexpected was planned.
 
“Salut mec”, he greets his friend in French. ”Nobody arrived yet?”.
 
“Salut bro! No, you are the first, as always”, Vik replies back.
 
“Let’s wait for them. By the way, I have an idea about our visit in Berlin…” he suggests before getting inside the house.
 
Sometime later Leoni arrives, entirely dressed up in pink, topped up with chestnut hair and a pair of glasses surrounding her dark hazelnut eyes. She is, all in all, a very girly type of person except for that little quirk of her: a bad habit of swearing. Beside this trait of character, she is very positive, full of verve with a magic halo that makes everybody feel comfortable in her presence. The German girl is the glue that holds together the Cimarron clan.
 
“Good Morgen jungs!” she greets them in German with a sweet smile.
 
“Hey Leonie!” they reply together, and offer back two friendly smiles. “Come in, we were discussing ideas for Berlin,” the leader adds, now speaking in English while inviting her inside the house.
 
Afterwards, a bit later, comes Nik all the way from Moscow, Russia. Wearing the latest Russian fashion trend, he looks a bit out of place. He is a little older than the rest of the team and he is a kind of an artist. Beside his preferred online game, his main hobby is photography.
 
“Privet!” He starts joyfully and before he could add anything else, the trio greets him with a warm soldier like voices and standing straight while saluting. “Privet, Comrade Nikolay”.
 
“Okayyy, you noobs are as funny as mults waiting for a container drop!” he replies in English a bit taken aback by this surprise attack. But he quickly adds, “Next time you urgently require my support in battle, you can send me an instant invite and I will reply within... a fortnight.”
 
“Noooo,” replies Leoni imploring. “We won’t be mean again, I promise,” she adds while staring at him with a pair of large and charming eyes.
 
“Is Alex here yet?” Nik inquiries, “I’d love to meet with someone from my home country.” He smirks and adds maliciously “Two and half Russian players in the clan, I can only guess that you three are in love with Russia”. They all start to laugh at once and gather inside.
 
With the exams period and the trip preparation, nobody had time to gather much information about Alex, apart from the little practical information shared in the player’s application. Everybody was excited to meet the final visitor: The Mysterious Alex. And especially Leoni who claimed, with a probability of hundred percent, that he is a handsome Russian boy with fair hair and deep blue eyes; she called dibs on him. Consequently, when the bell rings for the fourth time of the day, she is the first to jump off the sofa to open the door. A German grunted swearing follows: “Heilige kuh!”
 
The sudden and loud commotion rouses the interest of the group of friends which rushes and flocks in the narrow lobby, where a stunning black-haired girl is standing up with a large backpack and a shy smile. “Alex, Cardinal … he is a she,” reveals Leoni with a wide open mouth.
 
“Guter Himmel! Yesssss, another kickass girl in the team!” Leoni exclaims with a shrieking voice while tightly hugging Cardinal, who is fighting for breathing air in.
 
Killian was the second to react, stepping in front of Vik. “Hello, and welcome to Brest. I am Killian your supreme leader, bow before me...” he starts before presenting the team “… and these are my obedient servants… ouch!” Leonie elbows him in the stomach and gives him a disapproving look.
 
“Hm, sorry, I cannot come out with decent jokes today.” As he tries to save himself from embarrassment, and resumes the presentation, “Here is the rest of the Cimarron team: Nik, Vik and cough*crazy*cough Leonie.” As he finishes the sentence he decamps quickly to avoid another potential blow from the upset Leonie. She pounces and chases him towards the rear garden where a table is set up in the open for a delicious lunch prepared by Anna.
 
“Privet Cardinal! Sorry, I have to try to defuse the situation between those two,” apologies Nik before letting both her and Vik on spot. They awkwardly glance at each other without speaking for a while until his mum breaks the silence inviting the girl in. As the Russian girl passes by Vik and she leaves a wake of eau de cologne that catches the young boy attention. “Her perfume smells nice,” thought the teenager, “something floral and aromatic, alike the scent of a Lily of the valley blossoms.” The sweet odour triggered a faint memory … a comforting memory from his long lost past in Russia.

 
This was a promising start for a first day, not as eventful as you they would imagine, but it will not turn duller either and spending good time together is what they all expected from their summer holiday plan.
 
 
A week later
The five following days were filled up with console video games, sunbathing session at the beach and other teens activities in a well-deserved break. Everyone got along with each other, even the quiet Cardinal become integrated by the rest of the group. She demonstrated to be as skilled in real life as in the online game. She has beaten everybody at any physical activities; she masters swimming, diving, running, tennis … and football, to the dismay of Kilian.
 
At twilight of the fifth day, Vik is secretly meeting with the lawyer he had contact with the previous week. They seat among the peaceful tourists at the crowded terrace of the brasserie “Le Magnolia” facing the beach and the scenery of the dying day. Straight away the man in suit presents himself with his business card and asks the boy for proof of identity. He seems satisfied with the German passport provided by the teenager. Then he outlines the purpose of the interview.
 
“My assignment is simple; our firm was commissioned to deliver you with this package in person. The dispatch was paid for at our Berlin main office, and I can tell you that it was not easy to find you,” aprises the lawyer while presenting a brownish sealed package.
 
“Why?” enquiries Vik.
 
“We were supposed to deliver it to you on the day of your 18th birthday in Dusseldorf (Germany), however, you did not live there as expected. We only found your real location in France about a couple of months later, via the German embassy in Paris,” he answers before handing over the small pack.
 
“What is in the parcel? Who sent it to me?”, asks a puzzled Vik.
 
“I do not know, we do not interfere with the content of the parcel which we are entrusted with,” he replies, shocked by such an inconsiderate question. “However,” he continues on a positive tone, “I can tell you that the sender is a man called Kurt Wolfenstein and…”
 
“My Father send me this!” He interrupts loudly with an ecstatic face. “Have you seen him? Please, tell me.”
 
“I’m afraid not, the request was logged in March 1986, during the cold war, at our main office in Berlin located in the American controlled zone,” he clarifies.
 
“Oh…” Vik is disappointed and frustrated. “Will I ever learn something about my father’s fate?” he interrogates himself before suddenly realising that maybe something important and worthwhile lies inside the package. He frantically rips open the package, but he is met with further dissatisfaction, only a couple of hand-written letters, all in German... “Shaft!” he swears. “My German is not that good, I’ll have to ask Leonie to translate for me,” he concludes to himself.
 
With nothing else to discuss, the lawyer closes the meeting, and finally leaves the premises having accomplished his mission. Vik puts the papers in his backpack and departs with a lot more unanswered questions than prior to the meeting. The night has settled, and the town is now soak with a pitch black atmosphere, let alone a patchwork of dim street lights dotted by the lampposts. Absorbed by his thoughts and questioning himself about the possible content of his father’s letters, he walks home briskly unaware of the man following him since he left the brasserie.
 
At the corner of a street, where the luminosity was fainter, the follower quickly jumps on Vik and vigorously seizes his backpack. The surprised teenager firmly clings on one shoulder strap, but after a moment of struggle he loses grip and lets go, falling backward on the sidewalk. The man runs away with his loot, but suddenly a sleek silhouette sprints past Vik in pursuit of the escaping thief. A second black shape with two large shining eyes, arrives to rescue the boy by offering her hand for a lift. “Leonie!” He gasps.
 
The slender shadow of the chaser catches up and tackles the man, then manages to expertly overpower the attacker after a short fight on the sidewalk, and eventually retrieves the stolen backpack. Quickly the mysterious saviour comes back to reunite with the pair, and while handing him back, his possession urges them with an out of breath soft voice: “Leonie, Vik, we should go back to the house, the mult might come back with reinforcement!”
                                         
“The scent, the voice… It is Cardinal! Her too! How?” the boy asks himself.
 
In the distance, the defeated man stands up, and shouts a cryptic warning before disappearing in the remoteness of the town: “Viktor, beware the three Bears!”
 
The trio is now safe and sound at home encountering no further problem on the way. Vik is still shaken and perplexed about the incident. The situation is getting too big for him alone now, it is time to share with the group to try to find out what is going on. Quickly the team gathers in his bedroom and he narrates to them what happened the past week: the call from the lawyer and the meeting, the package from his father, today’s attack and the intervention of the girls. Then he hands to Leonie the two letters which she examines before reading aloud the translated content to the impatient audience. She starts:
 
 

Viktor, my son.

 

What I’m about to tell you is not fairy tale. I’m under surveillance and fear for my own security, consequently I must act with caution and protect what I can, hence, this message and quest for you to accomplish. If you read this, I will not be here with you, sorry about that. I love you and hope that you and Anna are living safely in Western Europe.

 

In my research at the institute, I theorised a discovery about applied plasma technology which is about production and control of enormous amount of energy from a controlled cold fusion nuclear reaction. This phenomenon is demonstrated by the Omega formula and is harnessed by 3 Goldilocks parameters governing the self-sustainability of the fusion reaction process within a globular device called the Blue Sphere. I collated and secured these details within the Blue Notebook that I have hidden in a safe place far from those who wish to misuse it. Be careful, hostile parties are also searching for it, and I could only identify one of them, Sergei Vonabalab, a rich industrial weapon maker. 

 

What I would like you to do is to continue what I have dreamed of and can no longer pursue: sharing knowledge of the unlimited plasma energy for the benefit of the whole Humanity. I have wrote down for you in the second letter, the instructions on how to retrieve the Blue Notebook. Please share the plasma technology theory details with the world, unless you feel that mankind is not ready for its power. In that regrettable case, hide the discovery as we bear the responsibility to protect humanity against itself.

 

Good luck and be careful, my son…

Happy 18th Birthday.

Kurt L. Wolfenstein

 

PS: I hope you still enjoy the storybook I gave you for your 5th birthday. Remember that fairy tales always relate to hidden messages, that only wise people can decipher either under the sunlight of a bright mind, or by the warmth of the flickering candle flame. Remember, this if you find yourself lost in the darkness and short of clues.

 
 
Leonie pauses as she reaches the end of the written message and looks up to the bewildered audience. All the clan members were listening carefully and finding the content of the first letter unbelievable. However, Vik has just been attacked by an unidentified foe willing to use brute force to get to Kurt’s papers. This is as real as it gets. No further ado, Vik invites Leonie to carry on with the translation of the other letters containing the instructions.
 
Leonie stars to read aloud again and as she is about to reveal Kurt’s notebook hidden location, but she stops abruptly swearing with surprise: “Heilige kuh!”...
 
 
Epilogue
Where is the blue notebook hidden? Will Vik and his friends be able to retrieve it and fulfill Kurt’s will? Was the shadowy attacker an agent of the Troika Organisation? And what is the meaning of his last words? A warning or a threat?
Let’s find out in the next chapter.
 

 

* * *

 
Extra: Confidential Dossier
Quote from Kurt’s Red Notebook:  
Nuclear fusion is the process that powers stars and creates new heavier atoms in the universe, and it all starts with the protons and neutrons of the hydrogen as fuel. Fusion reaction happens when atomic nuclei are combined to form a heavier atomic nucleus.
The process is difficult to reproduce on earth, however different technology, like plasma, provides enough incidental collisions to overcome the repulsive nature of protons and allow protons and neutrons to fuse together.
The other problem is the plasma confinement control, as it cannot be in direct contact with any solid material. However confining gravitation force in stars, can be mimicked via an intricate electromagnetic lattice which keeps the plasma enclosed. The Tokamak and the Blue Sphere devices (from the ISIDA project) are the direct and successful application of this theory.  

 

Translation of foreign words

 

 

French

Salut mec: Hello mate

 

German

Good Morgen jungs: Good morning guys

Heilige kuh: Holly cow

Guter Himmel: Good heaven

 

Russian

Privet: Hello

Troïka (тройка): Triumvirate - 'a set of three'

 

Read next part The Blue Sphere IV - Rukus in Berlin

Edited May 7, 2019 by Merovingian

[Flexoo 6,980]

Edits:

"Baguettes slices" in this case apostrophe was needed to determine the possession. In singular, you can use -'s, in plural -s' or you can use "of", in that case, it would be formatted "slices of baguette".

- few commas added here and there. Usually, you should use comma after words like however, moreover, furthermore, especially if they stand at the beginning of the sentence.

- few grammar fixes, mostly related to putting "s" in verbs that were not related to third person singular.

 

 

 

eau de cologne - ou boy, those five months in France sure came in handy when I read this ;)

 

 

[Person_Random 4,991]

Should have proofread this one.  Nice formats.  Shame on google docs.  Good Job.  Not necessarily in that order.

 

And Flexoo, five months in france?  Was it studying abroad or vacation?

Edited November 29, 2018 by Person_Random

[Flexoo 6,980]

And Flexoo, five months in france?  Was it studying abroad or vacation?

Neither. I worked there. Cough, but that's a bit off-topic.

[Person_Random 4,991]

Fascinating.  Never really been to Europe.  How was it?

[Flexoo 6,980]

Fascinating.  Never really been to Europe.  How was it?

Really nice, probably the most beautiful and interesting country I had a chance to visit so far. I was always playing with a thought of learning French, so now I have a really good chance to do so when I will go back.

 

But in case of other questions, you can ask me in PM. Let's keep this topic for the discussion of the story provided by the author.

[Merovingian 656]

 

The 's' yes that is one of my weaknesses. I hate possession thingy. :ph34r: 

 

Next chapter we are moving to Germany, how good is your German? :)

Edited November 29, 2018 by Merovingian

[thethiefofvictory 339]

I really should proofread better next time... anyways that took long to publish, and I'm waiting for chapter 4 and 5!

 

Oh, good story.

[Merovingian 656]

I really should proofread better next time... anyways that took long to publish, and I'm waiting for chapter 4 and 5!

 

Oh, good story.

You already read chapter 4  :ph34r:  - thanks for the proofreading. The mistakes found are because I made some change after you did it.

​5 is not started yet... hopefully this weekend

 

"Good story" :wub: - Thanks. Some preferred the first chapter with Kurt and others the second with Vik.

Edited November 30, 2018 by Merovingian

[P.4.R.K.O.U.R 329]

Merveilleux!

[Merovingian 656]

Merveilleux!

TY, mon ami

[Merovingian 656]

Coming soon
 

---

[Lose 881]

Coming soon

 

 

 

---

---

 

 

cant wait!

[thethiefofvictory 339]

Coming soon

 

Have you hired another proofreader now, or simply haven't written Chapter 5 yet? :p Anyways I'll be waiting!

[Merovingian 656]

Have you hired another proofreader now, or simply haven't written Chapter 5 yet? :P Anyways I'll be waiting!

Hi, I haven't writing it yet. 

​I see a lot of views but not many likes, I am wondering if the story is worse continuing. Maybe it is too long.

Part 4 is actually half way the story.

[Lose 881]

Hi, I haven't writing it yet. 

​I see a lot of views but not many likes, I am wondering if the story is worse continuing. Maybe it is too long.

Part 4 is actually half way the story.

its not worse continuing nor too long! its a great series just the way it is

 

and does this mean there will be 8 parts?

 

EDIT: 100 posts yEEEEe

Edited December 19, 2018 by Lose

[Merovingian 656]

Coming soon

or never...

[Lose 881]

or never...

*insert spongebob time card here*

[Merovingian 656]

Looks like it won't be publish this year.
 
So let's have a sneak peek:
 
Brest, France – End of week 1 - July 1999

 “What?” asks Vik desperately. “What’s wrong? Tell us, don’t let me sweat longer!” he begs.

“Fabelhaft!” Leonie gloats, “Berlin… , the notebook is hidden in Berlin!” she adds joyfully.
....

[Lose 881]

Looks like it won't be publish this year.

 

So let's have a sneak peek:

 

Brest, France – End of week 1 - July 1999

 “What?” asks Vik desperately. “What’s wrong? Tell us, don’t let me sweat longer!” he begs.

 

“Fabelhaft!” Leonie gloats, “Berlin… , the notebook is hidden in Berlin!” she adds joyfully.

....

why am i more exited for this than new years slightly

[Merovingian 656]

Tick Tock, it is dead O’clock

By the river’s source, I witness the birth of time.

Slowly streaming to the oblivious end, I see fears heading to the known infinity.

Why my soul does hurt so bad?

Bla bla, when my piece will be approved?

[Lose 881]

Tick Tock, it is dead O’clock

By the river’s source, I witness the birth of time.

Slowly streaming to the oblivious end, I see fears heading to the known infinity.

Why my soul does hurt so bad?

Bla bla, when my piece will be approved?

when thanos loses the infinity gauntlet

[Merovingian 656]

when thanos loses the infinity gauntlet

yuck, US comics - too much drama