Operation Dalanalle
"Alright, it's decided, then; we will task the 5th pioneers with the construction of a second secret sub dock at Björköfjärden, the objective being to have it operational in time for the commissioning of the first
Nynäcken class vessels ... and that concludes the written agenda. So, would anyone have a topic that needs to be added?"
"I think so, general. We have a ... guest waiting outside, and I would like to motion that we let him explain his plea himself."
"A ... 'guest'? You mean, a civilian? What security clearance does he have?"
"None whatsoever, but bear in mind that the topic he wants to address doesn't touch Swedish interests in the first place ... yet."
"... next you'll tell me that he's not even a Swede?"
"A Finnish 'mage' by the name of Ilmari Järvinen, we have a dossier on him, if a rather thin one. Point is, he's under the impression that his fellow Finns are dealing with a certain situation in
too Finnish a way, so he'd like to bring it to the attention of the next-door neighbors, so to speak."
"... so he claims that it could
become a notable problem of ours if we leave it to his fellow Finns for too long? Hm. Considering that humans or even nations working
against each other has fallen further into disgrace post-Rash, I would hate if we were to talk to this guy and the next thing is that Finland accuses Sweden of lending support to a group of revolutionaries or somesuch. What do your dossier and your sources say about his background and connections?"
"They agree that Ilmari is even more of a loner than a Finnish mage should already be expected to. No sign of him ever disagreeing with his government before, either. He's immune and works as a prowler-style noita based in the
settlements around Jänissalo."
"... can you put that into terms I can find on an actual map of Finland, please?"
"About
one third along the line from Kuopio to Joensuu, Sir."
"That's even outside this eyes-of-whatnewt
'defense' system of Saimaa they think we don't know about, isn't it? No wonder that you have trouble dredging up intel about the guy ..."
"On the other hand,
if there's a new threat coming out of the Silent Lands in the area, he
would be the kind of guy to know about it early on ..."
"Alright then, bring him in, we already missed lunch, anyway. If we're lucky, we'll lose our appetites over his accent as well ..."
"Yeah, or he could 'magic' it away for us ..."
"So, we hear that you would like to warn us about a threat that might exceed the capabilities of the Finnish military?"
"Indeed, general, and the subtopic is bear beasts. May I ask what your opinion is about the Finnish take on them? As far as I can tell, Sweden doesn't see them as anything fundamentally different from other beasts?"
"Well, we have no reason to. For all practical reasons - the threat they pose, their movements, how to hunt and kill them -, they line up well with other beasts of similar size. And that's not just the Swedish position; lots of Norwegian hunters agree with that assessment, too."
"You are aware that few Finns would agree with that, right? We maintain
special registries for them and have
rites that, at least initially, were meant specifically for them. You think of all this as superstitious humbug, don't you?"
"Umh ... I wouldn't put it that bluntly [to your face], but basically ... but since you announced that you have an opinion differing from that of your fellow Finns, may I ask what
your position is?"
"I hadn't thought much about the matter for most of my life and pretty much went along with the Finnish beliefs, but recent events changed my opinion. Not in the way you now expect, though. Now I'm not only
convinced that the bear beasts of Finland merit special treatment, I have
actual proof of it. You heard of our troops disposing of the one called Möntti, I trust?"
"Oh, right, that basically happened at your doorstep. So your pitch is about it initially being taken as not even a mammal, possibly heralding the spread of the Rash to other parts of the fauna? That has been disproven once it was slain, it
did originate as a bear."
"
Originate, indeed." Ilmari pushed a binder across the table. "Here's copies of the
full mission reports from two of the hunters involved in dispatching it, one of them being a skald-level biologist as well. You will find that, bear origins or not, Möntti had
far more actual similarities to a frog than just its outward appearance. The skald found it necessary to give a warning that Mönttis slow change into a 'pseudo-frog', down to basics of its body chemistry, could very well provide the Rash pathogen grounds to evolve into something that can
also infect and survive in amphibians! And yet, the leaders of that hunting expedition had no better sense than to have what
should have been handed over to researchers ASAP cleaned and dangling from a tree in the middle of nowhere!"
The general disguised his affright by taking the binder and leafing through it, while Ilmari took a breather to calm down again.
No use getting taken as a raving lunatic."We will hand these documents to our biologists and hear what they make of it, of course. But in the meantime, what do you suggest we
do about it? There seem to not have been any similar findings in beasts, bear or not, here in Sweden. Mönttis carcass is now useless, as you said. And we cannot send troops to Eastern Finland for a systematic search without the Finnish government learning of it and - probably - going all indignant about it, can we?"
"No, of course not. First and foremost, I'm convinced that this ... effect is in fact something limited to the
bear beasts of Finland. I mean,
look at that Finnish registry; it is supposed to list
all bear beasts we know about, and yet
every single one listed there is some sort of body horror show. '
Often retaining a treacherous resemblance to their former beings', nope, not
their style at all."
"... dangit. General
Trolle, what do
our records have to say on that matter!?"
"I will have another look at them to be sure, general, but off the top of my head, about
half of the reports alerting us to a bear beast indicated that they were initially taken as 'possibly' or even 'not' infected."
"So it really seems to be something fishy - or in this case, froggy - going on specifically with the
bears of Finland. But my point remains, Ilmari: What can we
do about that, short of mounting what would look like a small-scale attempt at invading Finland? I presume that your army has at least
observers posted everywhere a known bear beast dwells?"
"As it happens, I have
more to offer to you than just information, general. As you said, Möntti was found and slain in the area I patrol. And thanks to their haste to perform the rites, the hunters never realized that Möntti was actually a female
still leading a cub."
"... waaaaaaiiit a golden-haired second, Ilmari. Möntti was slain almost a
year ago. Are you implying that you found that cub, tracked it, made your plans, set out to Sweden, sat through a two-week quarantine, and are now calmly talking to us,
without having told anyone else in Finland of that second beast near your settlements!? That's something people get jailed for here in Sweden as well, you know!"
"As they should. But do not worry about the safety of my home, general, the people there are perfectly safe. The cub will not come near them. You see, I spent most of that year gaining
control over it, so as to be able to sneak it out of Finland on a Swedish ship, by making myself its surrogate mother."
This time, there were audible noises from the rest of the meeting room, though it remained unclear how many were prompted by their fearless leader leafing through a binder held upside down.
"... uh, and how exactly do you keep control of it now that you're
in Sweden?"
"I 'borrowed' a rowboat and moved it onto an uninhabited island before setting out to Sweden. It's not accustomed to swimming yet. And as you know, it takes more than a couple weeks to starve a grossling ..."
"And your plan is that we send a ship to take it out of Finland and bring it ... where?"
"I trust that your scientists can come up with suggestions for that better than I can. I do not know of suitable institutions in Sweden beyond the
laboratories at Mora."
"But they're not dealing with
live specimen there!"
"... umh," a voice came from a second-row seat, "that might not be
entirely correct, Sir ..."
"... uh huh. Would
someone have a bright idea how to get a large-ish,
entirely Swedish-navy-crewed ship
that deep into Saimaa, too!?"
"Actually, yes, general," it came from a different second-row seat. "The works of
Skellefteå are supposed to ship a replacement
stator to the hydroelectric plant of Eno in about two months, and have made arrangements with our navy for a ship that can carry that load and still fit through the locks of the
Saimaa Canal and the shallows of the Saimaa lake system ..."
You seem to be in a good mood, Ilmari?"Silmätähti!? I didn't know that you can reach out
that far!"
Neither did I, but then again, I've never before had someone to try
with. Your meeting with the Swedish military is over, I take it?"Indeed it is, and I narrowly escaped having to stay with them for dinner. I am to return to Finland at once, with a camouflaged radio, and wait for further instructions."
Wonderful! You made no mention of us, I trust?"No, of course not. You were right, if they had had the impression that I represent a
group of Finns, they would have refused to even talk to me."
Good. Did they ask to receive more photos of our hyppäänalle? You didn't mention them giving you a camera ... ?"They looked at the one I brought, with scales on its babyface and a forked tongue, and immediately accepted that it's about to cross into a different clade like its mom was. They had me give a wordy description, of course, but no need for further photos."
Any idea where they'll bring it? Do
they have secret labs of their own?"I'm not sure. Nobody openly suggested another site, or tried to have Mora ruled out. By the way, the ship they'll send is officially delivering equipment to the hydroelectric plant at Eno; we got lucky there."
Hah, coincidence! Eno had a bit of trouble today, as I took our little sunshine for a tour ..."Wait, what!? You risked the staff of that plant
seeing it?"
No, no, we never came anywhere near the actual plant! But near the power line from there into Saimaa. As it turns out, junior has ... a certain talent
with electricity. We were gone before they sent out someone to check for the cause of the outage, of course."Electricity ... ? Interesting. While I'm on my way back, you may want to talk to Marjatta about that. She's a young noita - still a child, actually - on Vasaransaari, with the power line passing nearby, and rumor has it that her magic also interacts with electricity."
Oh? Consider it done, then. If she can provide a plan B to overcome those Swedish electrified fences, I look forward to talk to her eye to eye ...
