by John Mason
"S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Southern Comfort"
© 2011 John Mason. All rights reserved.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. logo and all names, characters and locations related to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series of video games: © 2011 GSC Game World and used by courtesy of GSC Game World. All Rights Reserved.
No similarity between any of the names, characters, persons and/or institutions in this publication and those of any pre-existing person or institution is intended and any similarity which may exist is purely coincidental. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, by any means, without the express written permission of the copyright holder(s).
THIS BOOK IS NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF GSC GAME WORLD. GSC GAME WORLD DID NOT TAKE PART IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS BOOK.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are the views of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of GSC Game World and/or individuals affiliated or connected with GSC Game World.
Author: John Mason
Edited by Karl Relf
Cover art by Ákos Kozári, Lisa Magyari and Balázs Pataki (physical version) and Noah Stacey (e-book version). All rights reserved.
This 2nd edition: November 2011
http://www.stalkersoutherncomfort.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/STALKER-Southern-Comfort/153859008012529
ISBN-13: 978-1466220720
ISBN-10: 1466220724
Southern Comfort
John Mason
“People are mistaken in their belief that they understand the essence of what the Zone truly is. Some consider it a universal evil, others - a wonder sent down to humanity, and others still consider it no more than a source of riches....They are all wrong. The Zone is impossible to understand when viewed through the prism of human perception; moreover it is far too early for humans to even try.”
Professor E.F. Kalancha
Acknowledgements
A few words are needed to thank the people that have helped make this book possible. First, thanks to Oleg Yavorsky and GSC Game World for permission to use certain characters and settings from their S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series, as well as to Joe Mullin, their social media manager, for his kind support.
Many video games may be inspirational but few of them offer a novelization writer a better chance to add human depth to the story than S.T.A.L.K.E.R. does. Which is no wonder, since the literary and visual inspiration for the GSC development team was provided by the epic works of Boris and Arkady Strugatsky and Andrei Tarkovsky - this project would never have been dreamt of without such vision, on all their parts.
No reason to deny that “Southern Comfort” also drew inspiration from films like “We Were Soldiers”, “9th Company”, “Black Hawk Down” and especially “Apocalypse Now”. This book attempts, by its modest means, to pay tribute to those masterpieces.
Thanks also to the people who have helped with the production and promotion of this book: Noah Stacey, Ákos Kozári and Lisa Magyari for the artwork; Chris Howell, Adam Czarnecki and Okan Erdogan for the music; Karl Relf who proofread the manuscript. Last not least, my thanks to Alexandra Morevna, Erica Coluccio and Scott Sheridan for their inspiring suggestions.
My special thanks go to Cpt. Károly Kálmán (Hungarian Special Forces, retired) for sharing some of his experiences earned in blood during his tours of duty in Afghanistan.
I’d also like to thank the members of GSC’s online community for their interest in the book and the favorable reception. Lots of your suggestions were adopted in this second edition, and here’s a big thank you for Mary Beth Klimkosz and Chris Schultz for correcting the errors which had slipped my attention before.
Finally, thanks to you, dear reader, for your interest and support. It only remains for me to say - “Good hunting, Stalker”, and enjoy the book.
Contents
Prologue
11
Condor One
15
Needle in a Haystack
41
A Shellful of Memories
55
Flash in the Sky
65
Eyes in the Darkness
76
Bullets on the Pass
85
Sparrow Two
105
Hearts and Minds
118
Last Men Standing
138
Bagram Blues
163
Hellgate
184
Deserter
202
Court-martial
231
Tough Love
245
Seek and Destroy
257
Heart of Darkness
284
The Man Who Would be Khan
296
A Girl with a Past
312
The Ghosts and the Traitors
328
For Whom the Bell Tolls
343
Body Count
365
City of Screams
391
Into the Catacombs
408
Point of No Return
436
Ground Zero
443
Epilogue
454
Prologue
The Independent, 3 March 2001: Taliban destroy ancient Buddhist relics in Bamyan, Afghanistan. International pleas ignored by fundamentalist leaders.
Kiev Post, Top Stories, 17 August 2001: Ukrainian authorities seal off the Exclusion Zone around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant after a bus carrying foreign tourists disappears close to Pripyat.
CNN Breaking News, 4 March 2006: Blinding light illuminates the sky above the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, according to witnesses.
BBC Top News Story, 10 June 2006: The skies above Ukraine’s ill-fated nuclear power plant are once again lit by bright light. Aided by the military, local law enforcement desperately tries evacuating the few villagers who remained in the Exclusion Zone after the deadly and still unexplained emission a month ago.
Fox News, 25 September 2006: In a press conference, General Dan K. McNeill, the newly appointed ISAF commander refuses to comment on questions about the Taliban’s alleged efforts to obtain nuclear warheads from Pakistan.
Kiev Post, Top Stories, 28 December 2009: A group of Ukrainian scientists led by Professor Sakharov have succeeded in penetrating into the Zone to a depth of one kilometer and returning without incident or injury. Professor Sakharov would not comment on questions regarding the special equipment that had made this possible, but did say that “this major breakthrough would not have been possible without the continuous research in Ukraine to design devices and protective gear suitable for exploring the Zone.” However, he confirmed “the existence of scientifically unexplained, anomalous activities in the physics of the Zone, as well as mutations in its flora and fauna”.
The Guardian, May 5, 2011: A leader of al Qaeda’s branch in southern Yemen on Wednesday vowed revenge for the US killing of the worldwide network’s founder Osama bin Laden. “We will take revenge for the death of our Sheikh Osama bin Laden and we will prove this to the enemies of God,” he told AFP, contacted by telephone from Yemen’s southern province of Abyan, an al Qaeda stronghold. “They will see what they haven’t expected… We are preparing a plan to continue jihad in the coming period,” said the al Qaeda leader, requesting anonymity for “security reasons.”
Fox News ticker, 6 June 2011, 03:42:58 PM ET: President to address nation following nuclear detonation in Kabul.
MSNBC.com, 7 June 2011, 01.35:46 PM ET: The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan has described the nuclear attack in Afghanistan as “the last resort of
an inhuman and despicable enemy to martyr themselves en masse and deny us the claim of victory”. The ACLU has strongly condemned his choice of words, describing them as “culturally insensitive”, while in Germany, France and the UK thousands have protested, blaming the United States and Israel for the atrocity.
The Guardian, 20 August 2011: It has now been verified by several independent sources that the nuclear explosions that devastated the capital and a vast surrounding area in Central Afghanistan were caused by three low-yield warheads of approximately 20 kilotons each, and were the work of insurgents or Al-Qaida extremists. The detonation was six times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and three times more powerful than the explosion at Reactor Four of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986. A US Army spokesman has denied comments regarding the origin of the warheads after reports claimed that they were acquired from Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.
Pravda.ru Latest News, 25 October 2011: Federal government warns Russians citizens against travelling to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone following a skirmish between the Ukrainian military and a group of paramilitary individuals calling themselves “Stalkers” – an acronym for “Scavenger, Trespasser, Adventurer, Loner, Killer, Explorer, Robber”. Despite protests by human right watchdogs and the European Union, the Ukrainian forces guarding the area have been authorized to shoot such trespassers on sight.
General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Ukraine, 15 August 2012
During Operation Fairway, aimed at re-establishing control over the center of the Exclusion Zone (including Pripyat and the Chernobyl NPP), our forces sustained heavy losses. The mission has been labeled a failure by general staff. For extraordinary bravery in face of the enemy, strike force commander Cpt. Tarasov is hereby recommended for receiving the Order of Courage and promotion to major.
- Col. Kovalskiy, commanding officer, Operation Fairway (resigned)
Remark: SBU supports recommendation. Pending promotion, it is further suggested that Cpt. Tarasov be designated as command element of our forces in the Exclusion Zone.
- Maj. Degtyarev, SBU/Special Operations Directorate
Kiev Post, Top Stories, 8 June 2014: The Ukrainian Ministry of Education is to send a scientific team into the nuclear wasteland that was once Central Afghanistan, now also referred to as “the New Zone”, under the oversight of Professor Sakharov, the veteran ecologist who led some of the first expeditions into the Chernobyl Zone between 2007 and 2009. The goal of the expedition is to end the speculation and internet rumors regarding environmental developments in the area that are allegedly similar to those in the Exclusion Zone, despite the evidence that shows that the mutations and other phenomena observed in the Chernobyl area were not caused by radioactivity alone.
Condor One
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone - Ukraine, 18 September 2014, 08:50:34 East European Standard Time/EEST
“I love being in the army, komandir. Where else could I get a chopper flight over the Zone?”
Major Mikhailo Tarasov doesn’t return the young lieutenant’s cheery grin, instead choosing to spend the last minutes looking out over the Swamp, lost in his thoughts. Seen from above, through the tiny windows of the Mi-24 gunship flying them to their mission, the Swamp looks peaceful like a national park: golden brown fields of reed bowing in the wind, the low September sun reflected in the waterways, the wooden dome of an abandoned church peering out of a shred of mist, anomaly fields on the Zone’s edge glowing with eerie green and blue. Tarasov is glad that the distance spares him the details: the Geiger counter’s constant clicking, the rotten stench, the sight of decomposing corpses fallen to mutants, radioactivity and anomalies.
“Save your high spirits for the underground, Ivanchuk,” he glumly replies. But his second in command seems to be in a talkative mood.
“How come it’s in this mess today? That hellhole under Agroprom was supposed to be sealed off ages ago.”
“Some Stalkers made it into Strelok’s chamber. We’re going in to seal it again, this time for good.”
“Piece of cake!”
Tarasov can’t see the lieutenant’s eyes under the helmet’s dark visor but he’s sure his second in command is not just swaggering. Today you will be tested, lieutenant. He looks at the two other troopers huddled up in the cramped compartment, flanking a technician who carries welding equipment. Kolesnik and Shumenko had been veteran Stalkers until they signed up to the army, motivated more by their need to escape debt collectors than fulfilling patriotic duty. They were made sergeants to let them know their place in the military’s food chain. Although not cast from the mold of legendary Stalkers, they were at least good team-players. For Tarasov, commander of the Ukrainian army’s own squad of
Zone Stalkers, this was more important than individual abilities. He looks at the lieutenant’s fingers nervously drumming on his AKSU assault rifle.
“By the way, lieutenant… what’s that duct tape on your magazine?”
“That? I taped two mags together, so that I can change them with a flip of my hand!”
“Do you see that on my rifle? No? And can you think why?”
“Because I’m stupid and you are smart, komandir!”
Tarasov laughs out loud. His grumpy mood vanishes in an instant. From the corner of his eye, he can even see two hard-boiled sergeants grin.
“What to do? That’s a fact,” he shrugs and gives a pat on the lieutenant’s helmet. “Hand me that duct tape if you still have it on you.”
The lieutenant pats down his pockets and hands him a roll of blue duct tape. Tarasov takes out a spare magazine from the pockets on Ivanchuk’s body armor.
“If you keep the mags like that,” he explains, “your weapon will feel much heavier than it is.”
He whips the tape around the magazine, leaving free an inch-long flap. “Look. If you grab it by this flap, you can draw it much quicker from the pocket and win a second if you’re in a firefight. Then there’s that carabineer on your assault vest. When you remove the empty magazine, just fasten it there with the duct flap. See? Like this… It will win you another second. Once the party is over, you can put the magazine back into to the vest pocket.”
“Two minutes to touchdown,” the pilot reports, “I have a visual on Fortress One.”
“All right people, here we go,” says Tarasov fastening the strap of his helmet, “check your gear and ammo. Finger off the trigger until you’re on the ground.”
He detaches the magazine from his silenced SA Val rifle and pushes the first cartridge down to make sure no cartridge is stuck inside. The steely clack of the weapon cocking is like music to his ears.
“One minute to touchdown,” sounds the intercom. “Landing zone is clear.”
Tarasov has landed more times in a helicopter than he can count but he still can’t shake off the slight sickness he feels during the sudden descent. He grabs his weapon and opens the hatch. Giving each man an encouraging pat on the shoulder while they exit, he waits until everyone is out. He signals to the pilots with his thumb up and follows his soldiers. The gunship immediately takes to the air and sets out on a circling path over the abandoned buildings to watch over the environment. Its turbine engines are still too loud for Tarasov to address the squad leader without shouting.
“Any developments, Lieutenant Nabokov?”
“We saw a pack of mutants not far from here but the helicopter’s noise scared them away.”
“Keep your eyes peeled, just in case something nasty comes out of this hole. Are the Stalkers still inside?”
“I’ve been standing by with Fortress One since zero-six-hundred. No one has left through here, sir, and Fortress Two didn’t report any earlier contacts either.”
“Good. Chumak, come over here!”
The technician – a haggard civilian who usually tends to the vehicles at the base and now looks helpless in the bulletproof vest he’s wearing for the first time – has fear written all over his face. Tarasov gives him his pistol.
; “You know how to handle a Fort-15?”
“Yes, komandir, but…” Chumak points at Tarasov’s rifle. “Could I have a machine gun like that?”
“If you ever find you need a bigger weapon, pick up any of our rifles because that would mean we’re dead.”
With his squad following behind, Tarasov walks to the tunnel entrance, a round opening in the ground like a manhole.
“Chumak, on me. Kolesnik, Shumenko, move forward. Ivanchuk, you look out for our six. Our mission is simple: we go in, seal the shaft to Strelok’s hideout and get out.”
“Rules of engagement?”
“This is a high priority area, Lieutenant. Shoot at everything that moves. Watch out for ricochets – the tunnels are narrow. Keep a little distance from the walls.”
“If we find any artifacts, can we retrieve and sell them?”
“Not if I find them first, sergeant. Anything else?”
“Major, sir!”
“Spill the beans, Shumenko.”
“Permission to take a leak before we go in.”
“Do it quickly and make sure you don’t put your yalda into an anomaly.”
“Shumenko’s dick needs not fear any anomalies on the ground” says Kolesnik with a grin.
The lieutenant is quick to reply. “He’s only pissing to let the mutants know his territory!”